Majora's Mask: The Legend of Gabourri
by Endgame
Summary: This is a novelization of Majora's Mask with a twist. While the plot is the same as the game, I have added many new elements. It ISN'T verbatim to the game. During Link's quest in Termina, he discovers some new cryptic legends within. CH12 UP.
1. A Lost Day In Time

**_Majora's Mask: The Legend of Gabourri_**

By Endgame

_Pre-Story Note:_

Hello. This is my third Zelda FanFic. My Previous two were _New Hyrule _and _The Hero of Time _(which has been deleted) This story is NOT meant to be a direct recap of _Majora's Mask_. Trust me, I know how boring and unoriginal that is. This story will explore Link's thoughts, as well as other people's thoughts, and deals with some of the side quests. I will say now, that most of the newer material doesn't really appear until chapter 5 or 6 (notice I said MOST), but please... don't skip to them. Thanks.

_**Prologue - Termina's Legend**_

Deep within the heart of Termina was a man... not just a simple resident of the area but a hero. A hero who saved Termina from turmoil and destruction generations ago... a hero who's chief goal was to end the ongoing threat to the land and save the people of Termina. Now known as an icon... one who's legend will be passed down for generations to come.

Not Link.

No, this hero lived years before Link. This hero has a different legacy...

Gabourri.

Gabourri was a Terminian man, born and raised in Clock Town. At first, his life was just like everyone else's. He took up a job as a mask salesman at age 20. He collected rare masks from around the land and sold them off for a living. He loved what he did.

But one fateful day... a monster began to plague the land of Termina. A monster whose origins are unknown. A monster known by all but only seen by one: Majora. Majora was an evil being who dwelt within the unknown depths of Termina. Over a course of several weeks, each sect of the land was plagued by the malevolent monster, whose chief goal was to destroy. Destroy everything. No one knew why.

Most people were too afraid to attempt to stop the chaos. They were afraid that Majora would kill them. It even reached the point that the entire land of Termina gave up all hope.

But not Gabourri.

Gabourri was the only one who really knew of Majora's power. One day while traveling the land, he spotted the mask in the field. How it got there, no one knows, although several theories were proposed. Gabourri remembered to keep the mask secure and hidden from any outside forces, so none could continue Majora's work. After a certain point, Gabourri had enough. Up until then, he had trained to be a Terminian warrior. A true hero he was. One day, he decided to use the mask to call Majora to face him. Being the bold and evil character he was, Majora confronted Gabourri at midnight during the annual Carnival of Time, atop the Clock Tower. No one knew what was going on up there.

Gabourri decided he'd had enough of Majora's games, and he'd taken a step too far. Gabourri drew his sword, ready to battle the beast. Majora expected to beat him, but he had no idea how great of a warrior Gabourri was. The two had a long and gruesome battle atop the tower, that even lasted several hours. Gabourri used his sword to weaken the beast, but it was simply not enough to do him in. Majora's strange techniques were equally as painful. Gabourri even almost lost hope for a while.

But, at the last straw, just as the sun began to rise over Termina, Gabourri delivered the final blow into the heart of Majora, where the sinister mask lay. The beast began to flail and release a terrible shriek that could be heard across the land. Most people were terrified, but they were also unaware of the great thing that had happened.

After several minutes, the evil beast fell to the ground, dead. Gabourri stood beside the carcass with one foot upon it, claiming his victory.

The people of Termina saw the sky become blue again, and had an inner notion saying that the beast had been defeated. Cheers and celebrations were heard throughout Termina on that day, from the Zoras on the islands of Great Bay to the spirits dwelling within Stone Tower. From that day on, Gabourri was known as Termina's hero.

That morning, a young Deku Scrub warrior scaled Clock Tower and played a melodious song atop the tower with his Deku Pipes. The legendary song symbolized victory, freedom, and prosperity. Termina had lived in great peace ever since that day, and Gabourri's legend was passed down to the following generations. Many people say that Gabourri's spirit lives on, but it is a known fact that his legacy will be remembered.

People were well aware of the recent accomplishments, and were joyous of the end of plagues around the land. Little did people know that these evil actions would one day be mimicked by an imposter. Little did people know that although Majora was destroyed, Majora's Mask was not. They could only hope that such things would not happen again, especially after the hero passed away. If such a thing were to happen, they would have to rely on another hero. Not just any warrior. Not just any hero.

A hero only chosen by destiny.

**Chapter 1 – A Lost Day In Time**

_Hyrule. The prosperous land brought to peace by the defeat of Ganon. Hundreds of acres of pastures, lakes, deserts, rivers, and forests. The hero's final mark cast a blessing upon the land so that evil forces could never break the spell._

_One fateful day, after the defeat of Ganondorf, the hero of time was obligated to return the legendary Master Sword to its pedestal and close the Door of Time for good, so that no outside forces could gain access to the Sacred Realm or the Triforce. However, on that day, the hero gave up one of his most precious possessions: time._

_With the Ocarina of Time in his hands and the Master Sword in his equipment, he held all of time in his hands. But now, since the sword had been laid to rest and the ocarina returned to the royal family, the gift of time was gone. As months passed, and as the seasons changed, Link saw himself growing older. He realized that he was not a Kokiri, but a true Hylian. He was no child. But since these things were no longer with him, he was forced to move on, and live his life. However, the hero did not want to live the dull life of a village person, but he wanted to explore the lands._

_The princess of Hyrule was overcome with guilt and felt that the Ocarina of Time truly was the hero's possession, after all he had done. With possession of the Triforce of Courage, the hero surely deserved something else: the legendary treasure of the Hyrulean Royal Family... the Ocarina of Time. Not because he defeated Ganondorf; Not because he released the six sages; Not because he was the one warrior with the master sword... but because he was now a true member of the Royal Family..._

_Now that Link had the Ocarina, he had more power, despite the fact that the master sword had been laid to rest. But with the enchanting power of the ocarina, Link still held time in his hands, and held the power to overcome the threat of time... especially once he left the only land he was familiar with. But Link was not born to stay where he was brought up. He was born for adventure, and was destined to be the hero of time, and to be remembered as a Hylian icon for the centuries to come._

_One day, Link left the land of Hyrule in search for more adventure, but no more peril of beasts dwelling within cursed temples. He left behind his friends, the seven sages, and the only place he could call home. The only place the Ocarina of Time had any significance. On the day Link departed from the land, time stood still. There was no day, and there was no night... Time itself recognized its hero._

_The day time stood still... the day the hero departed... the day not remembered by any but one... a lost day in time.  
_

It was quiet. It had been several hours since Link had begun his journey through the forest. The silence of the woods was so peaceful and almost tranquilizing after what Link had been through in the past. It seemed like only yesterday when Link and Zelda banished Ganondorf to the realm between dimensions.

Link continously pondered the concept of Ganondorf's banishment. For him and Zelda, as well as the six sages, the defeat of Ganondorf was an epic event that seemingly shook the world, but to everyone else in Hyrule, it seemed as if only Ganondorf had just "disappeared". However, soon after his defeat, the entire land of Hyrule was at peace and everyone living there was celebrating the defeat of the evil king. Everything was just perfect. Unfortunately, the Door of Time had to be closed and Link had to return to his original form. After that, everything had gone back to the way it was before, except Ganondorf was gone.

It was very strange. After Link closed the Door of Time and began to exit the Temple of Time, he glanced at the three Spiritual Stones. He realized that he had actually _just _put them there in actual time.

But that didn't matter. Ganondorf is gone, Link is the Hero of Time, and Hyrule is now at peace. Link now had an engraving of the Triforce on his right hand, symbolizing the fact that he is, indeed the Hero of Time. That was the way he could prove it. So, Link's legacy will live on in the land of Hyrule.

Nonetheless, Link was leaving alot behind. Zelda, Saria, Darunia, the rest of the sages... Navi had decided to stay in the forest and tend to a new, young, orphaned Kokiri child. Link was relieved that Navi found something better to do that to follow him to Termina.

Link could not see the sun because of the thickness of the trees in the deep Lost Woods. He looked around for a little while. He saw the freshness of the woods and smelled the fragrance emitted from the redwood trees.

Link then looked back in the direction of Hyrule. He could no longer see the path. Hyrule was behind him, and a whole new place lay before him. Link turned around and looked forward. He saw a light in the distance. Now, this light was not the sun. It was a light coming from some sort of hole. Link continued to wonder what it was, and slowly proceeded on Epona.

There was a sign by a tree on the right. Link squinted so he could see the writing:

**LOST WOODS:  
**

**You are now LEAVING Hyrule.  
Now ENTERING the uncharted Lost Woods.  
Continue heading NORTHEAST towards Termina.  
**

Not much help for him. He continued on his journey through the forest, still pondering on memories of Hyrule. How he had loved life after the defeat of Ganondorf. All of Hyrule was at peace and every race, even the Gerudos, were celebrating. Link missed it, and even wondered why he wanted to leave in the first place.

But, there was no turning back now. Link knew, however, that he would return to his home one day. Just not now. After several minutes, Link heard a dinging noise in the air. He looked around, startled, since it had been the only noise he had heard in hours.

Nothing.

Link saw nothing in every direction. He simply disregarded the noise and continued on. The noise rang again. He heard the sound that Navi made. A fairy sound.

"Navi?" said Link.

It was not Navi. There was no doubt in Link's mind. It _sounded _similar to Navi, but he knew the true sound of his own fairy.

_Ding!_

He heard the noise again. Finally, Link began to get frightened.

"Epona…what is that?"

Then, he heard another noise.

"Come out, you coward!" exclaimed Link.

_Bam!_

Link screamed as he was knocked off of Epona. He hit the ground very hard and was knocked unconscious. Two fairies then hovered above Epona. One was whitish yellow, the other was purple. They seemed to be looking at Link.

"Good job, you two!" said an unseen voice.

It was a little boy. The boy was short, and possessed scarecrow-like features. He had ratty, worn out garments, a farmer's hat made of red straw, leather shoes, and a pair of gardening gloves. The child was wearing a strange looking mask. The mask was shaped in a heart with four spikes coming out from both sides. The colorful mask gave a menacing gaze to anyone looking directly in its eyes. The boy's footsteps sounded like dead leaves crunching in the fall. The boy ran over to the unconscious Link and began to ransack his arsenal. He found few things of interest to him, since most of Link's items were left in Hyrule.

"Junk, junk, and more junk!" said the boy, scattering the items on the ground.

Then, the boy found Link's most treasured item, the Ocarina of Time. He picked it up and began to look at it in a perplexed way.

"I wonder what this is," said the boy.

"See what it does!" said the white fairy.

"Can I play it?" asked the dark purple fairy.

"No, Tael! You'll break it!"

"Oh, no I won't, sis!"

He put the mouthpiece up to his mouth and played a C note. The sound of music from the sacred instrument seemed to startle the boy, as if he had never heard the sound of music before. The sound from the ocarina seemed to have awakened Link. Link slowly opened his eyes and looked around, having no idea what had just hit him.

_Did that dirty kid just touch the sacred instrument passed down by the royal family of Hyrule?!_

Link saw the child playing with the ocarina, facing the opposite direction. He stood up all the way, and began eyeing the boy.

_"I've seen that kid somewhere before..." _Link thought to himself, "What is he doing here?"

The two fairies did not seem to notice. Link was careful, and did not make too much noise, but began to proceed forward. The child did not hear his footsteps. Link then made a quick lunge for the imp.

He missed.

The child turned around abruptly and saw Link. Link gazed deep into the mask and was almost possessed by the eyes of it. Somehow Link recalled having seen the bizarre mask before, but he could not recall where. Was he having déjà vu?

The child leapt upon Epona and let out a fierce scream. The terrified Epona launched her front feet off of the ground and began to sprint, having no idea what was going on.

"No!" said Link.

Link quickly lunged forward and grabbed hold of Epona's back leg as she was running. Link constantly scraped the ground and screamed.

"Give….me…back…my _ocarina!_" Link screamed.

The sinister child just laughed as the horse continued to run. Link's sides were becoming very painful, and he began to lose his grip to Epona's leg. Link's hands slipped off of the leg and he fell, rolling four time on the forest ground. Epona ran off until Link could see her no more.

Link was very uptight, and began to panic.

"My…horse…my ocarina…my weapons!" exclaimed Link, "all _gone!"_

Link saw that he was closer to the hole he had spotted from afar now. He ran up to the hole and on inside, since all other ways were closed off.

The hole was dark, just as he expected. But the dark began to get darker, and darker, until it was pitch black. Link extended his arms out in front of himself, but he felt nothing but air. The temperature slowly dropped, and Link began to walk faster, begin overcome by fright.

Suddenly, Link's step went too far, and Link found himself falling down some sort of abyss. It became so dark that Link fell unconscious again. He felt like this was all a dream and he would wake up any minute back in Hyrule.

But that wasn't true...

_"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" _

He continued to fall, and even saw eminent lights in the infinite distance. He saw an image of a Goron, just like the ones from Death Mountain. He also saw a constellation-like image of an ocarina. A Triforce, a Zora, a shield, a Deku stick, a boomerang, and Deku scrubs. He thought he was hallucinating. Strangely many of the abstract images looked like Deku Scrubs. As a matter of fact, most of the images even began to turn into the face of a scrub. A scary, enormous image of a Deku Scrub then appeared directly before Link's eyes. Link was terrified, and tried to run away. Many small scrubs then began to chase him, making horrific crackling noises as they ran. Link covered his ears and continued to 'run'. He continued to run without stopping, ever.

_"WHAT IN THE NAME OF NAYRU IS GOING ON?!?!?!"_

Link opened his eyes. He had landed. He looked up to see how long the fall was, but he saw nothing but a ceiling above his head. He was standing atop a large flower, in front of a large puddle of pure Zora water. The child wearing the mask stood on the other side of the puddle, laughing and tossing the ocarina up into the air.

"Ha! Young Kokiri boy! You are foolish for exploring uncharted sects of the Lost Woods! And as for that horse of yours... she wasn't doing a thing I asked her to do, so... I got rid of her!!"

Link gasped.

"I pity thee, fairy boy. Take a look at yourself."

Link looked down at the still water. He saw a small, innocent Deku scrub, with a large hat, tiny boots, and orange eyes. It could not be him. Link looked at his hands, and discovered that it, in fact, was him. The sinister child had turned him into a Deku Scrub. Link let out a Deku Scrub shriek, as the child just laughed evilly.

The boy began to walk on out the door behind him. The purple fairy followed him, but the cruel white fairy stayed with Link and beat him.

"Ha! Stupid little boy!" said the fairy.

The door slammed shut.

"Stupid lit-- the door?"

The fairy fluttered over to the closed door, and there was an uncomfortable moment of silence.

"Guys! You forgot about me! Wait up! Don't leave me in here!"

The cruel fairy looked back over at Link.

"Hey, deku boy, come over here!"

Link walked over to the door knowing that the fairy was sucking up to him just to get the door open.

"Well, don't just stand there! Open the door!"

Link opened the door and walked through, but the child and the other fairy were nowhere in sight. He continued to run into the next room, which had a large flower planted into the ground, and the door upon a ledge on the other side of the room. Link stood upon the flower.

"If you want to fly, you can burrow into the flower and blast off," said the fairy, "it's a scrub technique."

Link quickly burrowed in the flower, and suddenly blasted off. He was flying! He was flying via two spinning flowers in his hand. He proceeded into the next room. It was a room falling into nothing, with assorted islands in certain places. He flew over to those just as he had flown before, towards the door to the next room. It reminded Link of the Forest Temple.

Before entering the next room, the fairy stopped him.

"Hey, look, about what happened earlier…I'm sorry, and if we work together I can help you return to your original form."

"I accept your apology."

Link did not really accept her apology. He just did not want to raise tensions when he had such a bigger issue at hand. He knew she was just sucking up to him until she could get back to the masked kid.

There was a tiny tree on the ledge beside Link. It seemed to take the look of a Deku Scrub, but it was completely stationary and gave a depressing, lifeless look.

"It's a scrub that's been petrified. I wonder what could have caused it. It could have been the _Skull Kid _for all we know. Once scrubs are petrified, they are stuck as trees forever. How sad…."

"The Skull Kid?"

"Yeah."

"That's his name?"

"Yeah."

"Oh…I remember that name from Hyrule."

"Oh. I've lived in Termina all of my life, and I didn't meet him until he came here."

"Oh."

"What's your name?" asked Link.

"I'm Tatl. What's yours?"

"My name is Link."

"Well, Link. Let's go on into the clock tower."

"Clock tower?"

"Yup. That's where this leads."

Link walked on into the next room... He could feel time slipping through his fingers at this point. It felt as if he was traveling to another dimension... a dimension of time different from that of Hyrule. It felt... strange.

He saw a flow of water before him being pushed by a waterwheel. He heard the repetetive noise of the wheels.

_Ka-chunk…ka-chunk…ka-chunk._

There was a staircase. Link had no choice but to proceed up the staircase. He walked up a couple of flights until he beckoned a door. It was a very large door.

"That's it. That's the door to South Clock Town," said the fairy.

Link walked over to the double doors, and the he heard a voice from behind him.

"You've met with terrible fate, haven't you?" said the voice.

Link turned around, startled.

Is that who he thought it was? Link immediately recognized the man. It was none other than the Happy Mask Salesman from Hyrule Castle Town! But, what was he doing here? Link logically guessed that he was doing nothing other than business selling masks in Termina.

"Please do not take this as rude, but I have been following you, and I saw what happened back in the forest."

_"You... you followed me? What are you, some kind of stalker?!" _Link thought to himself. "Oh... I honestly can barely remember anything that went on back there," he said.

"He did it, didn't he? Was the person who did this to you wearing an odd-looking mask?"

_That... that mask. What exactly is it about that mask? Something about that creepy mask tends to unsettle me.  
_

"Well, my young friend, that was Majora's Mask. That's a mask I've been trying to recover for years, ever since it was picked up and put into a wandering spirit's hands. That mask possesses many evil, yet powerful qualities."

_That mask... Majora's Mask..._

_Majora's Mask is known for being the root of all evil within masks. The colorful patterns symbolize the many sinister acts and possessions by the mysterious, evil, and unknown figure, Majora. Hundreds of years ago mask salesmen discovered the mask lying in a patch of bushes in the Lost Woods shortly after the unexplainable disappearance of Majora. After the mask was found, a variety of plagues had begun to occur, because of Majora's control through the powerful mask._

_The terrified mask salesmen knew what was going on, and had to find a way to get rid of the mask so it could no longer torment innocent and lonely souls. One mask salesman, who eventually became a Terminian warrior, by the name of Gabourri came up with a solution to banish the mask in the gap between dimensions and seal it in a chamber of fire forever, so it could fall into the hands of evil no more. He stepped where no warrior had gone before, and defeated Majora, the mysterious beast that lurked within the depths of Termina, thus banishing the mask forever.  
_

_One day several centuries later, the gap between dimensions was permanently cut off by the evil works of Ganondorf. The mask fell from the gap and landed in the exact same place it was found by the mask salesmen centuries before. No one knew what happened, though. Luckily, it was retrieved by a Hylian mask salesman who knew of its power, and who decided to keep it from any outside forces.  
_

_When exploring through the southern end of Termina Field on a business trip, the mask salesman was ambushed by the lonely child. The salesman fell unconscious as the imp began to ransack his things. He found many masks that did not interest him, but the power of Majora's Mask compelled him, and sucked him into the evil dwelling within it. The child stole the mask and kept it for himself, wearing it and inheriting the power of the evil Majora, unknowingly changing for the worse...  
_

_Every…_

_Single…_

_Second…_

"Now, I will make a deal with you. If you recover that _instrument _that was taken from you, I will show you how to return you to your original form. However, I would like something in return. Please get the mask that I am looking for and return it to me. That can be our deal."

_How do you know about the Ocarina of Time?_

Link nodded, reluctantly.

"Now, I must leave here in three days, so please, try and get it before then. I will be waiting right here for you. Good luck."

"Let's go," said Tatl.

"Out there?"

"Yes."

"Well, what exactly is out there?"

"It's Termina. It's where the Skull kid, Tael, and I live. It's very nice. That door leads to the central town of Termina."

"Do you know how long we may be out there?"

"Well, you heard him! You have to get the mask back in three days. After that, I don't know what will happen..."

Link sighed, "okay then."

Link was so ready for another adventure, but didn't want to have any ugly encounters like he did back in Hyrule. He could only hope that he would have no trouble getting Majora's Mask and reclaiming the ocarina.

He could only hope...


	2. Ticking Away

**Chapter 2 – Ticking Away  
**

Deku Link stood directly outside the clock tower in South Clock Town.

"Okay, Link. We aren't exactly sure where the Skull Kid is, so I think the best solution is to go visit the Great Fairy in North Clock Town," said Tatl.

"All right," said Link.

Before going anywhere, he decided to take a look around. There were numerous workmen all over the place working on some sort of structure about 100 feet before Link. What was it they were building? Link had no idea.

He began to walk.

The weather was nice, and the temperature was brisk and comfortable. Link looked up at a staircase on the right-hand side of the town walls. There was a young boy with long, purple hair running down the stairs, wearing the _Keaton Mask._ This caught Link's eye very quickly, having seen that mask before back in Hyrule. Had that child stolen the mask from the salesman? Link approached the boy to try and talk to him, but the boy did not respond. He continued to walk as if a little deku scrub with a large green hat was not jumping in his face and placed a letter in the mailbox. After that, he just ran back up the stairs.

Link decided not to follow, because it would be rather pointless. He just continued exploring. He saw a large doorway leading...out, but to where?

Link tried to run out the door, but the soldier guarding the exit would not let him.

"Whoa, hold on a second, sprout! I can't just let a young Deku Scrub like you run out into the field without any accompaniment by an adult. It is far too dangerous for you to go out unequipped. Go find your parents and bring them here if you want to go out."

Link was rather surprised, since no one had stood in his way like that before. It frustrated him, very much. So, Link walked around the town again. He did not know exactly what to think; back in Hyrule, everyone treated him as the hero he was, but here in Termina, he wasn't even allowed to exit the town walls without a parent!

He spotted a large, yellow flower again, similar to the one he had used before in the cavern.

"I know, I can fly myself out of here!" thought Link.

Link ran over to the flower, and up to it, but before he could get completely on top of it he heard the call of another Deku Scrub. Had he gained the unique abilities only possessed by the Deku Scrubs? Maybe. Link was too afraid to touch the flower, since he had not known what other scrubs could do yet.

The other Deku Scrub appeared to be flying, with a helicopter-like flower atop his head. He was carrying two large bags. It seemed he was returning from doing business. He hovered above the flower as Link got out of the way, and finally landed.

"Sorry, sprout. This is my personal space and I can't just allow any outsiders to use it."

"Well, can I just give it a try?"

"I never let anyone just 'give it a try'. This is my personal space. But... it's almost time for the carnival, and I'm feeling a little lucky. You look like a worthy kid! Listen, there's this magical stone I've heard about recently. I'm pretty sure it exists somewhere. If you find this stone for me, I'll grant you permission to use this flower."

"What stone?"

"The _Moon's Tear._"

"The Moon's Tear?"

"All I was told was: Make the moon cry."

The confused Link had no idea what he was talking about. Suddenly, Link spotted something in the sky. It was like no other thing he had seen before.

The moon. It was... enormous. Not only that, but it seemed to be glaring at him. It frightened him.

"Tatl!"

"What is it?"

"The moon! _Look at it!_"

"I know."

"Why is it so close?"

"It's the Skull Kid's fault. After he got that terrible mask, he started to do horrible things. About a week ago, he put a spell on the moon, causing it to very gradually fall. If his plan went right, it will crash in _three days, _just when the mask man said he was leaving, so we can get out of here in time."

"Oh my..."

_The skull kid ran about Termina field at night without Tatl and Tael, wearing Majora's Mask. He was doing a disturbing dance and letting out a cackling laugh. He looked up into the sky. He let out an ear-shattering scream of terror, sending shock waves of hatred and evil out in every direction. He was calling Majora, and Majora responded.  
The mood began to fall. It came closer and closer, and grew an unfriendly face. The moon was perfectly aligned with Clock Town's Clock Tower._

"_On the night of the Carnival of Time, Termina will fall!"_

"The Carnival of Time is on the night of the third day," said Tatl, "we've got to get out of here by then."

"Get out of here? Shouldn't we try and stop it?"

"How, Link? No offense, but you're just a puny little Deku Scrub! What authority do you have?"

"Once I recover my ocarina, I can do anything."

"Link, let's just go to the Great Fairy."

Link ran back in the direction of the Clock Tower, and went behind it to North Clock Town. North Clock Town was nothing but a grassy area with a pathway, a tree, a large balloon with Majora's Mask on it, and another exit guarded by a soldier.

"It's through that hole up there!" said Tatl.

Link spotted a hole in the western wall of North Clock Town. It appeared that one had to fly to make it up there. It's not like anyone from Clock Town was allowed to just prance into the fountain. There was a conveniently placed Deku Flower waiting for him by the northern wall. Some other scrubs must have put it there for their own use. Link burrowed into the flower and blasted off to the fairy's fountain up above. Running inside, he felt nostalgic for the Great Fairies of Hyrule who had helped him immensely in his quest.

"Hear our call!" said the fairies, "we have been shattered into pieces by the terrible Skull Kid! Please find our one missing fairy so we can become one again!"

"Where is your missing piece?"

"Isolated within Clock Town! Find the fairy and bring it here!"

Link ran outside.

"Okay, so we just have to find the missing fairy," said Tatl.

"Yeah, but where?"

Link just continued to explore, hoping he would eventually run into the fairy. He saw a young boy firing a blowgun at the large balloon with Majora's Mask on it. He approached him, hoping he would be of some help.

"What do you want, little scrub? Can't you see that I'm practicing with my blowgun? If you want to practice with me, get your own. Otherwise, beat it, scrub!"

"Wow, what a jerk," said Tatl, "Whenever you return to your original form, throw a bomb at him or something."

"I'm going to go explore a little bit more," said Link, "maybe later."

Link ran over to East Clock Town, hoping to find something else of interest. Upon entering, he spotted a small building to his left. Overcome with curiosity, he decided to enter without even checking to see what it was.

It was nice on the inside. The floors were carpeted, and it was nice and cool. A secretary sat at the front desk ahead of him in the lobby.

"Hello, young scrub! Visiting from the swamp, I take it? This is Clock Town City Hall. The Mayor's office is to the left, but he's in a meeting right now..."

Link nodded. He thought he'd go check it out. He was going to be out of Clock Town in a couple of days anyway. The secretary knew she shouldn't let him in, but, for some reason, did not try to stop him. Link walked into the office.

Inside the office was Mayor Dotour, two Clock Town guards, and two other residents. They were all talking about an apparently serious matter that had just recently arisen. They were so caught up in conversation that they didn't even notice a scrub enter the room.

"Mr. Mayor, we have got to declare a mandatory evacuation in the next couple of days. The moon is getting closer!" said one of the soldiers.

"You're crazy, Viscen! Do you _really _think the moon is going to fall?!"

"No, _you're _crazy, Mutoh! Just go outside and look up! The moon is extremely close!! Do you really think we should stay in town and just let it fall on us?"

"I just don't know what to s-" said the Mayor.

"Mr. Mayor! You need not worry. The moon may appear to be falling, but I can assure you that no such thing would happen!"

"Nonsense! You are in denial again! Have you noticed how many tourists are in Clock Town? Very few! Usually at this time of year, the town is sprawling with tourists!" said Viscen.

"I'm not in denial! I'm realistic! You need to go back to training school in Ikana Canyon!"

"Well, I just might be heading back to Ikana in a couple of days if that moon gets closer! No way I'm staying in town."

"Fine, you cowards! Go! I'll stay here and do the carnival myself!"

"Are you mad, Mutoh?"

"Listen, listen. We must stay calm about this," said Mayor Dotour, "we must be patient, and wait. If the moon does in fact get closer by tomorrow, I will have no choice but to call a mandatory evacuation of all of Clock Town."

"Are you serious, mayor?"

"Of course he is! You need to snap some sense into yourself! When the moon falls on Clock Town, don't come whining to us! We warned you!"

"Cowards! All of you are cowards! I'll never leave town!"

"Fine, then! Stay! I'll go back to Ikana Canyon and tell everyone else to take refuge in a safer place! Some may even leave Termina!"

"Viscen, listen to me. Do you remember that time about a year ago when someone claimed that aliens invaded Romani Ranch? Did that really happen?! Of course it didn't! That girl Romani is delusional! We even had to send Clock Town officials down there to search the area right before last year's carnival, which significantly delayed construction of the carnival's festivities. Do you want something stupid to happen like that again?"

"You just aren't listening!"

"Hey, little scrub, what are you doing in here?" asked the Mayor.

They finally noticed Link had entered the room. Everyone stopped talking. Link did not say a word.

"Is it this crazy down at the swamp? Is there such a fuss being raised at Deku Palace?"

"I-I'm not sure," responded Link.

"Well, let's hope not. They shouldn't go through the trouble we're going through."

"Yeah..."

"Well, I'm leaving! I've got work to do, for the carnival!!" yelled Mutoh as he exited the room.

"Mr. Mayor, Mutoh is being irrational. We must call for an evacuation of all residents at once."

"I will... but what about Kafei?"

"My best guess is that Kafei has already left town. He was probably one of the first to conclude that the moon was coming and decided to flee."

The mayor sighed. "Okay. I'll send out the notice tomorrow morning. However, the gate guards must not let any unaccompanied children out of town without adults. Termina Field has gotten much more dangerous recently, and kids shouldn't be wandering around unattended."

"Yes, sir."

Everyone exited, except Link.

"I can't take this much more. You should go back to the swamp, scrub. It will probably be much safer there, anyway," said the tired mayor.

Link exited the room and the building, exasperated over the stressful conversation.

"I should go back to South Clock Town," said Link.

"Whatever suits you."

Link ran back to South Clock Town. He ran up and down the alleys basically looking for anything interesting.

He passed the tower on the right side, and something caught his eye. It was a statue, of an owl. It looked somewhat like Kaepora Gaebora. Had he followed him to Termina? There was a small inscription on the stone...

_Ye who hold the sacred sword, leave ye mark._

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Link.

"When you get your sword back, hit this statue, duh!"

"Oh, it seems to be directed at me..."

"Link, it's already twelve noon! We don't have time to lollygag! Time's wasting!"

"You're right. Let's just keep going."

Link ran back into the center of town and up the stairs of which the keaton mask boy ran down. He headed for the entrance to a sector of town. There was a woman walking the opposite direction, yelling, "Kafei! Where did you go to, Kafei?"

"Who's Kafei?" asked Link to Tatl.

"He's some boy who mysteriously disappeared a few days ago. He technically isn't a boy, though. He was a grown man, but the Skull Kid cursed him and he became a child again. His wedding was supposed to be after the Carnival of Time, but no one can find him now. It's very sad."

"Wow."

"Yeah..."

"I sure hope he grows back."

"Well, the curse causes him to stay a kid forever, like a Kokera, or a Kukkemi, what was it?"

"Kokiri."

"Yeah, like a Kokiri. And he can't become an adult again unless the curse is broken. How to do it, I don't know."

"Weird..."

"Yeah...let's keep going. This is the Laundry Pool."

Link ran down to the little pool. There was a frog beneath the tree and a pathway on the other side. Link spotted a lone fairy hovering over the water.

"Hey, Tatl, is that the fairy?"

"It looks just like all the other ones, so my instinct is yes. Get it."

Link hopped onto the water and began skipping on it. He claimed the fairy and jumped to the other side to safety.

"Mr. Deku Scrub, please return me to the Fairy Fountain in North Clock Town," said the little fairy.

"So, let's go," said Tatl.

"What's through that door?" asked Link.

"Oh, that door over there? I dunno, probably a back entrance to a shop or something."

"Oh, might as well not bother."

Link scurried to North Clock Town, where the great fairy's fountain was. He was hoping that she would be of some help on his journey. Tatl was somewhat nervous, though... especially since she betrayed the Terminain fairies by joining the Skull Kid...

Link saw the hole again and launched up into it. He scuttled into the lair. He could see all of the yellowish fairies aimlessly fluttering about.

The lone fairy flew out of Link's hat and into the cluster. Suddenly, all of the fairies merged in a brilliant beam of light, spawning the great fairy. She was big and beautiful, just like the one from Hyrule Castle.

"Oh no! It's the Great Fairy of Clock Town!!" said Tatl.

"Oh my..." said the fairy, "what... what _happened?!"_

Tatl hid behind Link.

"My body... it was shattered. Shattered by that kid in that ugly mask... I can faintly remember..." Right then, the fairy spotted Link... "You! Was it you who put my body back together?"

Link nodded. However, as he nodded, Tatl fell out of his hat.

"Why, thank you so much! You are such a noble scr-- Tatl?"

Tatl's heart sank. "...yes?"

"Is that you, Tatl?"

"Yes..."

"You're not with that child anymore!!"

"Yeah..."

"But you were with him when he... blew me to smitherines..."

"Great Fairy, I tried to stop him."

"You couldn't stop him from doing it?"

"No... If I did, I think he would do something really bad to me."

"Is that so?"

"Well, if you did stop him I could have saved you and unmasked that twirp!"

"I'm...sorry, Great Fairy."

"Ah... I understand. At least you aren't with him anymore... Now, young scrub, I must give you a reward for repairing my body."

"Oh, don't sweat it, miss," said Link.

"Nonsense! Here's a gift for you! You won't be able to find this anywhere else!!"

The fairy opened her arms widely. There was a large flash of light. Suddenly, Link felt more...powerful.

"Link, you've been blessed with a magic power meter! They Great Fairy of Time invented this! Okay... it isn't actually a _meter _but it's a magical power endowed unto you by the fairies. Whenever you drink magic potion, your power is replenished and you can do amazing things! They only give it to the noble ones who deserve it!" said Tatl.

"What are you talking about, Tatl? I've had a magic power meter since my quest in Hyrule. The Great Fairy atop the mountain gave it to me..."

"Actually, I think you lost it in the woods. The Skull Kid probably messed with it."

"Damn it."

"Well, that doesn't matter now, because you got it back."

"Actually it _does _matter. I had more capacity before."

"Well-- okay..."

"Thanks, Great Fairy!!"

"Now, go, young scrub! When battle has made you weary, come back and visit me!"

Link ran out of the fountain and the mean boy firing darts at the balloon was still out there. He discovered that he could now shoot magic bubbles out of his sprout. The darts from the boy's blowgun seemed to not be strong enough to burst the balloon. So, Link gathered up a bunch of energy, and fired a bubble at the balloon.

_Boom!_

The startled boy stopped and looked around.

"Whoa! Who did that! I know it wasn't me."

Then he looked at Link.

"Was it you, scrub?"

Link nodded.

"Well, scrub, what are you trying to do? Show me that your spitballs can pop my balloon?"

"Uh... sure."

"Well, what do you want from me?"

"I want you to help me find the Moon's Tear."

"Moon's Tear? Never heard of it, sprout! But I know of a place where people find mysterious stuff like that!"

"Tell me."

"No so fast, scrub! It's in our hideout! We don't allow outsiders to walk in there without first passing a test!"

"Okay, what is it...?"

"Bombers! Line up!"

Suddenly four other young boys who looked just like the balloon boy ran up out of nowhere. They were all dressed the same, and had numbers on their backs. They were numbered 1 to 5.

"We're all going to hide in random places in the town! If you find us all by tonight at midnight, we'll give you the password to the hideout!"

"Oh, damn. Not another stupid game," said Tatl to herself.

"Bombers! _Go!_"

All five of the boys ran off in different directions, until Link lost track of them.

"I hate these stupid games we have to play! We don't have time for this! It's already six o'clock!"

"This town is small. I'm sure finding them won't be hard."

"I sure hope not."

So, Link began to look for the boys. First, he stayed in North Clock Town, running around in every direction. He spotted a pillar with a slide beside it. He approached the pillar and saw Bomber #4.

"Yikes!" yelled the Bomber, running off.

Link began to chase him.

"This is ridiculous..." thought Link.

But, finally, Link caught him. The tired boy sat down and said, "okay, you got me, four more to go."

"See, Tatl? That was so simple!"

"Yeah, we can only hope the other four are that easy."

With that, Link continued on, to East Clock Town. He hadn't seen that part before yet. He ran down the stairs to catch Bomber #2, who began to make his way down to South Clock Town. Fortunately, Link caught him, too.

"Augh, you got me. Have you found anyone else already?"

"Yeah, number 4."

"Oh, three to go."

Link saw another boy standing atop a building. He was holding a _chicken _in his hands. Why? Link ran back up the stairs and up another flight to reach the roof. Right as he did so, Bomber #1 jumped off and flew for a few seconds via the chicken.

"Smart, yet pitiful," said Link.

"You got me already? Aw, man!"

This was way too easy for Link. He was way too experienced for a little child Hide-and-Seek game. With that, Link headed for South Clock Town.

It appeared no bombers were here, or were they _hiding? _No, they aren't smart enough to do that. Link went back to the Laundry Pool, and no one was there either.

"Hmm, wonder where the other two are."

"Check in West Clock Town."

So, Link ran over to West Clock Town, another unexplored sector.

There was one bomber, right as he entered. It was the balloon boy, bomber #3.

"Aah!"

The boy began to run.

"This crap is so tedious!" said Link.

The boy ran all the way up to the top of West Clock Town, where there was bomber #5! Luckily, Link caught both of them with ease.

"He's already caught us all! And it's only ten o'clock! We need to find better hiding places! Oh, well. Come up to North Clock Town."

Link ran back to North Clock Town with the bombers. They all stood together in a line.

"So, boys. This little scrub found all of us. Should we allow him to be a member?"

"No way! No scrubs allowed!!" said the other four bombers.

"Well, you heard 'em, sprout."

_"So you mean that we did all of this junk for nothing?!" _said Tatl.

"Here's the combination, scrub!" said the bombers, just then.

Each bomber turned around, one by one, with numbers on each of their backs. The combination was '43512'.

"There, that's it!" said the head bomber.

And with that, all five of them walked off.

"The bomber's hideout is in East Clock Town!" said Tatl.

"Okay, let's go," said Link.

Link scurried over to East Clock Town. It was 10:30 PM. He saw another little bomber standing before ht entrance.

"Hey, scrub! I can't let you in if you don't know the combination!"

"43512!" said Link.

"What? How did you--? I don't see how a scrub like you got it, but I guess I gotta let you in... be sure to check out the observatory! There's alotta cool stuff there!"

Link ran in down the narrow alley and into the hideout. It looked like the town's sewage system, except the water was clean. He skipped across the little pool to the other side, where there was a pathway. Suddenly a Skulltula fell down from the ceiling. It greatly startled Link. He hadn't had any encounters with skulltulas since his quest in the Forest Temple. Good thing he knew how to defeat them in an instant. When the spider turned around, Link fired a bubble at its tender back, killing it.

Link continued on into the next room, where he saw a large balloon with Majora's Mask on it-- the same one the bomber boy was trying to pop. Link popped it easily and scaled the ladder leading to the observatory.

The observatory was the best part. It was colorful, decorative, and very interesting. He saw a scarecrow standing in a little stand on the side.

"Pierre...is that you?"

No response.

Link remembered the Scarecrow's Song from Hyrule, but couldn't play it since he was missing his ocarina. This was rather unfortunate. He just continued on into the main room, where an old man stood, gazing into the telescope.

"Well, hello, little boy! Did you come to see the stars? They look great tonight! I spotted something strange seemingly dancing _atop Clock Tower. _I can also tell that the moon has gotten closer, _significantly. _Would you like to take a look into the telescope?"

Link gazed into the telescope and looked around. It was amazing! He was actually getting to see Termina Field and what was beyond! Something new lay in each direction. He saw the canyon in the east, the swamp in the south, and the mountains in the north. The ocean was behind Clock Town, so he couldn't see that yet. However, he _did _see some figure moving atop Clock Tower, so he took a closer look.

It was the Skull Kid. The Skull Kid was dancing atop the tower. It was a rather strange sight. Then, the Skull Kid looked up at something... at the moon. So, curiosity persuaded Link to do the same. Link looked up at the evil looking moon and saw something fall from its eye. It was the same thing the scrub from town mentioned! It was _a tear of the moon. _Suddenly, the stone crashed outside.

_On one day when Majora's Spirit stands apex the lands, all fate will align. It is a sign of ending, no more, and trouble. The calling of Majora stretches out into different dimensions, worlds, and times, only a true hero can stop he terror. On the day Majora is called, a stone will fall. On the day Majora is called, rights will wrong. On the day Majora is called, the Moon will cry one tear._

"Whoa! Did you hear that? It must have been one of those falling stones again!" said the astronomer.

"Go check it out!" said Tatl.

Link ran outside to see the stone. It was a beautiful, glowing blue stone sitting directly outside the observatory in Termina Field. It was the Moon's Tear. Link picked it up, and felt it's power running through his veins. It was rather hot, but not too hot to touch.

"We got it! Let's go back to town, now!" said Tatl.

Link ran back into the observatory, and headed back to Clock Town through the quiet hideout. He was getting very tired, and really wondering if he would ever be able to become human again.


	3. The Apex of Termina

Author's Note:

Hello again, readers. I must say before you read, that this story was more difficult than the first two to write, mainly due to the time Link has to kill before the night of the third day. Like I said, I added some of my own new stuff to the story, hoping to spice it up a little bit. I also included some short tales of the past. Hope you like it.

**Chapter 3 – The Apex of Termina**

It was mid-morning of the second day. Link had arrived back in East Clock Town after getting the Moon's Tear from Termina Field. Now, all he had to do was give it to the salesman deku scrub. Not too hard. Hopefully there isn't a catch to all of this.

Link ran back down to South Clock Town, not in too much of a hurry, considering he had almost two days left to get the ocarina and the mask from the Skull Kid, however he was pretty anxious to return to his original form. He came back upon the flower of which the salesman scrub owned.

"Hello again! Did you find the stone?"

"Yeah, it's right here."

Link handed him the Moon's Tear.

"Oh, what a beautiful sapphire! Thank you so much, young scrub! Here, feel free to use this flower any time you want! As for me, I'm headed off into the wilderness to do some of the best business ever! Thanks again!"

The scrub handed Link a piece of paper. It read: _Town Land Title Deed, _and supposedly granted Link permission to use the flower whenever he pleased. The scrub then got his bags and flew off into the _eastern direction. _But Link didn't care where he was going, all he cared about was getting the flower. He hopped into the flower and blasted off high; higher than usual, and flew over to the ledge at the Clock Tower before the "staircase."

"Here it is. Tomorrow night at midnight, these stairs will fall, and we will go up to the summit of the tower. There, the Skull Kid will be waiting for us," said Tatl.

"How do you know all this?"

"Because, Link. Tomorrow night is the Carnival of Time. That is what the whole town is preparing for. Not only that, but the moon was expected to hit that night. After we get your ocarina and the mask, we escape."

"Escape? Shouldn't we _stop _it from falling?"

"It's impossible, Link. The moon won't stop falling. We have to run... back to the Lost Woods."

"Oh..."

"Don't panic, Link. We're going to be fine."

"I believe you."

"But, for now, we have almost two days left. We can search every part of Clock Town to see if we can find anything useful, and maybe we can use it to our advantage."

"Okay, Tatl."

"All right, then."

Tatl flew into Link's cap, and let him navigate the way from there. Link headed back to East Clock Town.

There were many doorways in East Clock Town, and he wasn't sure where to go first. There were signs above doors, reading numerous things:

**MILK BAR**

**STOCK POT INN**

**MAYOR'S OFFICE**

**HONEY & DARLING'S SHOP**

**ARCHERY RANGE**

This place was happening. Link found it rather neat. On the other hand, all of this searching for the Moon's Tear, playing hide-and-seek, and finding fairies, Link was exhausted. He decided to go ahead and crash at the Stock Pot Inn.

Link walked inside and approached the counter. There was a tall red headed lady standing behind the counter.

"Well, hello, little scrub. Are you lost?"

"No. I would like a room, please."

"A room? Do your parents know where you are?"

"Yes."

"Well why don't you go get them to come here and check you in."

"They're not here."

"Well where are they? I can't let a young, lonely wanderer from the swamp to just come and check in as he pleases."

"I'm very tired, ma'am, and I just want to take a nap. I'll be out before tonight."

"Okay, fine. But next time, bring an adult with you. That'll be 50 rupees."

Link handed her a purple rupee.

"Where did you get all those rupees?"

"There were a ton at the observatory! You shoulda seen it!"

Tatl just scoffed.

"Here, you're in room 2," said the lady.

Link grabbed the key and ran upstairs to the second room. This little inn wasn't too shabby. Just needed more capacity.

Link walked in the room and plopped down on the bed. Boy, was he exhausted! It felt weird getting in the bed with a deku scrub's body, but he didn't mind. He got under the covers and closed his eyes.

Time began to pass. Quicker than ever. Link's deku scrub eyes drifted off into a deep sleep, and Link was completely dormant. Everything had shut down for rest, except Link's mind. He began to dream.

_Link as a human walked outside from the Stock Pot Inn. Nighttime had fallen, and Clock Town was unusually crowded. What was the big occasion? Link looked up into the sky, and the moon was shining in the sky. It was not falling. It was a pleasant night. Suddenly Link saw fireworks blast off, coming from South Clock Town. He ran down to see what was going on._

_This was it. It was the annual Carnival of Time, but the Skull Kid was nowhere in sight, and the moon was normal. A large lever atop the Clock Tower fell, and at that exact second, ten fireworks simultaneously blasted off into the air. What a beautiful sight! Link looked around, and he saw no familiar faces... except one. This one actually wasn't a familiar face. He recognized the hair. The purple hair._

_It was the boy he had seen wearing the Keaton mask... but he was not a boy, he was a man. And he was not wearing the Keaton mask. The man was clapping and cheering, and there was a woman standing next to him. It was the same lady who worked at the Stock Pot Inn! They were... together? Apparently yes._

_Link continued to look around. There were various auctions and sales all over the place. He decided to check them out. There was a Potion and Milk Auction. The grand prize was a gallon of Chateau Romani. What was Chateau Romani? Link didn't really care. Then, Link saw something very interesting. It was a mask sale! It was great! There were so many neat masks! Each had a description beneath it. He saw masks including The Gibdo's Mask, The Keaton Mask, The Bunny Hood, The Couple's Mask. Some of these masks Link had seen before._

"_Hey, there, sonny! Want to buy a mask?" asked the salesman._

"_Sure!" said Link, "I just want to look around some more."_

_Link saw so many more masks. He loved them. They were his main attraction. _

"_Oh, be right back, sonny! They're about to do the fireworks finale!" said the salesman, walking off._

_Link looked behind the counter at some masks sitting in the back. Were they the rejects? He saw the Bremen's Mask, the Mask of Truth, the Stone Mask... how dull and bland. Then, he saw Majora's Mask. It was sitting hidden behind the others. Link bend down to pick it up. Even though no one was wearing it, the eyes seemed to pierce his soul and menace him. The mask began to shake. Majora could sense his hands holding the mask. Link seemed to be possessed by the mask. He began to move it to his face. Closer, closer. He wanted to don the mask now. He did not know why. It was almost completely on his face, until..._

"_Hey, son, that mask ain't for sale!" said the salesman, coming back._

"_Why not?" asked Link._

"_I'm afraid I can't share that with you. Sorry. There are plenty of other masks, though."_

_Link gave the man the mask, and he put it up against the wall. The eyes illuminated and gazed at Link._

_Majora was peering into Link's soul._

Suddenly Link awakened, with a jolt.

"What time is it?" asked Link.

"Midnight. You slept for a long while."

"Wow, it went by so... fast!"

"It always does when you sleep, ready to go?"

"No... this _flew _by! I had a huge dream, too!"

"What was it about?"

"I was at one of the carnivals of time! It was so neat."

"Wow. Dreams sure can be weird, can't they?"

"You bet. But this one was beyond weird! I saw that purple headed boy, another mask salesman, two--"

"Link, I'm sorry for interrupting, but I'm still exhausted from all that crap that went on ever since we ambushed you in the Lost Woods. Can I sleep for another few hours?"

"Yeah, go right ahead."

Tatl flew into his cap. Link, however, was not tired anymore. He got up and decided to walk around the inn. He spotted a door by the staircase, and opened it.

It led to outside on a balcony. East Clock Town was very quiet at the night. Link only spotted one person out (the soldier). All of the other places, except the Milk Bar, were closed. Link ran over to the soldier.

"Hey there, scrub. I'm afraid I can't let you wander out towards the canyon. It is very dangerous, especially at night."

"I wasn't planning on going out."

"Why are you up, then? It's too late for you to be out running around. There are some weird people walking around town at night. The old lady from the bomb shop got robbed in North Clock Town last night by a mysterious thief from Ikana."

"That's too bad."

"Yep."

"Say, Mr. Soldier. Do you think the moon is going to fall?"

"Fall? Well, it sure does look pretty damn close. It's starting to scare me. There's been word around town that it'll fall tomorrow night, and many people are starting to flee. I would be too, but I have to wait for my boss's orders."

"If I were you and it was about to hit, I'd make like a rabbit and run."

"Yeah, that's probably what I will do if it gets too late."

"Good."

"Well, scrub, if my boss saw me talking to you at this our, I'd get in trouble, so I think you should go indoors and get to bed."

"All right, if you say so."

Link hated taking orders, but this one he didn't mind. He went ahead and walked back into the inn. The receptionist was no longer at the desk, but there was a piece of paper on the desk.

_Welcome to the Stock Pot Inn_

_We are full up for tonight and I won't be working after hours. Please be quiet and do not wake the guests. If you would like to make a reservation, please sign your name in one of the blanks below. I'll ask for your money later. Thank you and have a nice day._

_**Anju, owner of the Inn**_

Link was very bored and looked onto the wall. There were several picture frames. One frame was a picture of the inn owner and the purple headed boy all grown up. Another was a picture of Clock Town from Termina Field. There was a Terminian Clock on the right of the picture. It was in the wee hours of the morning.

Link walked around on the first floor of the inn. He saw a hallway past the stairs and decided to take it. He walked down the corridor and he saw two rooms. One was closed off by a door, and the other was open. He just went ahead and walked through the open one. It was the kitchen.

No one was in there. Link concluded that everyone else was asleep. He heard the sound of boiling water and smelled coffee beans. There was a note on the table in the kitchen, and a torn open envelope. Link knew it would be rude to read the letter, but he couldn't resist himself. Plus, Tatl wouldn't know. She's asleep.

Link jumped onto the chair and began to read the letter. It was rather long.

_Dear Anju,_

_Hello. It's been a while since we've spoken. I know you must be worried about me and afraid that something might have happened to me. But, do not worry. I am in fine condition. I know all of Clock Town is looking for me, and I know you really want me to show myself, but I can't, Anju. I just can't yet. You must be especially upset since our wedding is scheduled to be after the Carnival of Time. I will tell you why I am taking refuge for the time being, though._

_There is a child wandering about Termina. He is wearing the forbidden mask of Majora, and has turned to another side. One day, when I was out collecting nuts and seeds in Termina Field, I spotted the child running about. He approached me because I had my Sun's Mask and asked me where I got it. I told him that I made it back in Clock Town, and then he asked where he could get one himself. I said that mine was the only one made, so he demanded that I give it to him. I obviously refused, and he put the "youth curse" on me and stole my beloved mask. I made an oath never to get married without that mask. The youth curse caused me to grow younger, and younger. And now, I am a child again. The curse cannot be unbroken unless the Sun's Mask and the Moon's Mask are reunited. I know this is very unfortunate. _

_I am doing all I can to get my mask back. Tomorrow night, I will be in Ikana, to attempt to retrieve my mask. Something tells me Sakon has the mask now, because the Skull Kid told me he got rid of and gave it to the criminal body of Termina. If I do retrieve my mask, I will be back on the night of the carnival. I have noticed that the moon seems to be getting closer. At first, I just thought it was an eclipse or something. But I hear around that it is a curse, and it will fall after the carnival. I don't know if it is true, though. However, if it is, please take refuge. Flee to Great Bay. That is bound to be the safest place. If the worst happens, do not worry about me. I will manage fine._

_Kafei_

"Wow..." said Link to himself.

"What is it?" asked Tatl, who just awakened.

"Oh, nothing. I'm ready to go."

"What time is it?"

"It's morning."

"Oh."

Link walked outside, and the sun had come up. The moon had also come down some more. As a matter of fact, it was much closer now.

"It's closer," said Link.

"I can tell," said Tatl.

Link had nothing more to do, except explore town until nighttime. He walked over to the East Clock Town guard again to see if he could go out.

"Sorry, son. I can't let you out... Have you seen the moon? Do you think it will fall? I really wish I could flee, but I have to wait until the boss lets us go. If you are going to flee, go get your parents and then come back here," said the guard.

Link just walked off and walked around town for a little while longer. Time passed. Quicker than it had before. The sun moved throughout the sky faster than usual.

Time passed, the day began to darken, the moon continued to get closer.

1 hour passed.

Link continued to mingle throughout the peaceful town. While strolling through East Clock Town, he saw a man with a large red had walking around, putting mail in the mailboxes.

_"Is that the guy who always ran around Hyrule Field?"_

Suddenly, the man spotted Link and walked over towards him.

"Hey there, lit'le chap! What's a scrub like you doin' here in the city? Shouldn't you be at the swamp?"

Link did not respond.

"Ha! Just kidding! Don't take it personally! I just walk around the town all day delivering mail, and I never actually get to stop and chat with anyone! I thought I'd just talk to you for a few minutes. After all, it is rare to see a scrub in town!"

"Ha. You look somewhat familiar. Are you from Hyrule?" asked Link.

"Hyrule? Where's that?"

"I know I have seen you there before. You were the man who always ran across the field."

"Ran across the field? Ha! I don't like running. I was born in Ikana Village and got a job as the local postman here ten years ago! I've always lived in Termina!"

"Well, do you have a brother?"

"Honestly, I don't know. My parents passed away when I was young, and if I did have a brother, he would have been taken into care by another family. The family that took me into custody had too many kids and could only take one more. Ikana Canyon isn't the most kid-friendly place, either."

"Oh... o-kay."

"Well, I've gotta get back to work! See you around! Oh, and that moon really looks like it's getting close. You should get back to the swamp soon!"

The postman jogged off towards North Clock Town.

"Well, that was nice," said Tatl.

"Well, we do have time to kill," responded Link.

More time passed as Link walked from East Clock Town to West Clock Town. It was a longer walk now that he was a scrub.

4 hours passed.

9 hours passed.

Soon enough, nighttime had fallen. Not only that, but many people had left town, too. There was a small family walking out of the South Clock Town exit next to Link. There was a man, a woman, and a child. The child was one of the bomber children.

"Ralia, I won't stay here! That moon is going to fall! Let's go to the swamp for tonight!" said the man.

"You are so paranoid! The moon will not fall!"

"Look up! Look how close that thing is!"

"It still does not convince me!"

"I can't do this anymore, Ralia! Jim and I are going to the swamp! Please come with us."

The man and the son proceeded out of the exit. The woman slowly complied and followed behind.

Link looked around. It was so quiet. The tower was finished for the carnival, but no one was here. Link ran over to the yellow flower. He burrowed himself in it, and blasted off. He flew over to the ledge in front of the tower. There was a wall blocking the way up.

"Link, the stairway doesn't open until midnight."

"It's already 11:30."

"It is! Did time speed up or something?"

"Must have. This day has gone by in a blur."

"Weird."

"Yeah."

"So, are you ready?"

"I'm ready."

Before Link knew it, it was midnight.

Bells from the clock tower tolled twelve times. Fireworks began to blast off from the sides of the tower automatically. The giant lever atop the tower fell, declaring the commencement of the carnival. Eight walls before Link fell, creating a stairway. The moon began to fall some more.

A carnival was starting, and no one was there to celebrate it. It was a completely vacant celebration. It was so somber. It was a celebration of the end of the world.

"All right, let's go," said Link.

"Let's."

Link ran up. There was no turning back, now. The stairs were long, but eventually reached the summit of the tower.

There was the Skull Kid, _hovering _above the summit. He had the Ocarina of Time, and he was tossing it up into the air. This infuriated Link. The moon was no more than ten feet above the Skull Kid's head. That dirty kid had no right to treat the treasure of the royal family like a cheap rubber ball. But, the Skull Kid did not care. He did not care about anything but himself at this point.

"A ha ha. There is the Deku Scrub. Coming to claim his pride," said the kid.

Suddenly Tatl's brother, the purple fairy flew out from behind the Skull Kid.

"Sis!"

"Tael!" said Tatl.

"Swamp...Mountains...Ocean...Canyon! The four who are there... bring them here!"

Then, the sinister Skull Kid swatted Tael, knocking him off.

"Stupid fairy! Don't speak out of line!"

"_Tael! _Skull Kid, how could you... ?"

"Well, even if they were to come right now, they wouldn't be able to stop me. They're probably watching me right now wishing they could do something about it! You think you can stop me, fairy boy? Just look above you."

Link looked up. There was the massive moon. It was inching its way to earth.

"So you _do _think you can stop me? Go ahead, stop me now!"

That is when all hell broke loose. Link felt useless as a scrub form, and would do just about anything to have his ocarina back; not to mention the master sword or his fairy bow to show the Skull Kid what he was made of.

The Skull Kid released an ear-shattering shriek. The horrible shriek broke glass, ground steel, and crumbled rocks. The moon began to move faster.

"Oh no!" said Tatl.

Link was full of trouble. He ran around, not knowing what to do. He thought if he got his Ocarina back, he could do something helpful. But _how?_ Link waddled around hopelessly in a total panic. Countless thoughts and memories flashed through his mind, as a recap of his life. Link thought this would be the very last night he would be alive.

_"Zelda! Saria! RAURU!! Din! Nayru!! Anyone!!! CAN ANYBODY HELP ME?!?!"_

Although his voice echoed far, his screames were equivalent to faint whispers in the wind. All hope was gone for him now. The only thing Link could do was just sit there and wait. The Skull Kid had the ocarina, and would never hand it over to him. Link just had to give up.

"Tatl!! What now?"

"Uh... I don't know... Someone help us!!! Anyone!! The Goddess of Time, help!! _We need more time!!!"_

Link was in a daze. He had an extremely short period of time from stopping the land of Termina from destruction. He had no idea what do. As a deku scrub, he had no great powers. Just... bubbles.

"Wait!! That's it!! Bubbles!!!! I can shoot bubbles out of my mouth!! If I can somehow get the ocarina, we can get out of here!!"

Link powered up a nice, hard bubble and fired it at the Skull Kid immediately.

"Augh!"

The Skull Kid bounced back, and the Ocarina of Time fell from his hands.

"The ocarina!" said Link.

Link sprinted over to the sacred instrument and picked it up. It felt so wonderful to retrieve his most sacred possession. He had gotten it back. An amazing euphoric feeling swept his body. He was so happy to have the treasure back in his hands.

Suddenly, memories with Princess Zelda came rushing back at him.

"_I knew this day would once come. The day you left Hyrule."_

"_Yes. It has taken extensive thought. But I can assure you that I will be returning."_

"_Good. I will never forget you, Link. You saved Hyrule from the hands of Ganondorf. And now that you did that, we can live happily like we always had before."_

_Link smiled._

"_I want you to take this back, Link. It doesn't belong to me anymore. The Hero of Time is the owner of the Ocarina of Time."_

_Zelda handed Link the Ocarina of Time._

"_Are you sure? It's the sacred instrument of the Royal Family."_

"_Yes, I'm sure. Because, now, you are apart of the Royal Family, Link."_

_Link smiled again._

"_Now, I want you to remember this song. When you hear the melody, let it remind you of your permanent memories of Hyrule, and that it will always be your home."_

_Zelda took the ocarina from Link to play the **Song of Time. **The melody was more blissful than Link had ever heard. This was the number one song for him to remember. Even more than Zelda's Lullaby."_

"_I will be back, Zelda. I know Hyrule has a glowing future before her. I know all will prosper."_

"_It's all because of you, Link. Don't you forget. Your legend will be passed down for generations to come."_

"_I'll be back one day."_

"_I know you will."_

_Link rode off on Epona towards Kokiri Forest, which led to the large and thick Lost Woods, which extended outside of Hyrule._

"What are you doing, Link! This is no time to be daydreaming!" said Tatl, "now that you got your ocarina, what can you do to help!"

"The song. It will summon the Goddess of Time."

"The Goddess of Time! If that instrument can summon her, then play it! We don't have much time left!"

Link pulled out the instrument. Wait... this wasn't the ocarina. It was... a set of pipes.

"What? Where did you get those!"

Now was not the time to wonder where Link got the pipes. Link just went ahead and played the enchanting Song of Time.

Then, something incredible happened. Link had never experienced a feeling such as this, even when he traveled through time back in Hyrule. This was a unique feeling. It was a strange feeling. He looked around. He was no longer standing atop the Clock Tower. As a matter of fact, he didn't even know where he was. He was in a different dimension. A dimension bound by nothing and accessible through time.

He was falling, through a pure, white abyss. He fell through faded clocks and heard numerous ticks in every direction. Everything was going backwards. He was going back in time, and he felt the seconds and minutes slip through his fingers. Everything was resetting.

Link fell, and fell. Then, he awakened. He was standing outside the door to base part of the Clock Tower. It was exactly where he started after talking to the Happy Mask Salesman. Everything had gone back in time to the dawn of the first day. Everyone was still in Clock Town, and the workers were working on the Carnival Tower.

It was shocking. Tatl was just as amazed as Link was, having no idea they could do such a thing.

"Wow..." said Tatl, "everything... started over."

Link continued to look around in amazement. He had no idea the Song of Time could do something that amazing. But was this his destiny? Was it his destiny to save Termina, just as he did Hyrule?

"So, who exactly are those _four _Tael was talking about?"

"I wish I could tell you, Link. All I know is it's something important. Very Important. Crucial."

"Is it my duty and destiny to release the four he was talking about?"

"I... don't know..."

"Well, they are the only ones who can stop the moon, right?"

"Apparently so..."

"I guess the only thing we can do is try to save the four within these three days, with time in our hands."

"Yes. It must be. You are the only one who holds time in your hands! That instrument of yours! It is destiny! We must save the four within the next three days, but since it is too short of a timespan, we must manipulate time to get the task done!!"

Tatl was right. It was Link's destiny. The Hero of Time can achieve certain tasks that others cannot.

"Come on, Link. Let's get you back to normal."

"Yeah."

Link turned around, and walked through the door, back into the very place he'd lost his true identity. He knew that the longest three days of his life lay ahead of him...


	4. Everglades

Author's Note:

Hey, I hope ch. 3 turned out good, especially with all of that stuff I added to it. Now, this chapter is where the real journey begins, so get ready. Once again, I must say, do not think that it will be a replica of the game. I still have numerous elements I'm going to add to the story up my sleeve. This chapter marks the beginning of the Woodfall phase.

Hope you like it!

**Chapter 4 – Everglades**

Link and Tatl walked into the wheel room where the Happy Mask Salesman patiently waited for them. Link vividly remembered speaking to the man only a few moments ago, right before he exited the tower to go get the ocarina back. Hardly any time had passed at all.

"Psst. Hey, Tatl."

"What?"

"Do you think he knows about us going back in time? If he does it'll seem like we walked out of here five seconds ago and we're already coming back."

"I don't know. Let's find out."

"Hello, fairy boy!" said the salesman.

"Hi, Mr. Happy Mask Salesman!"

"You're right on schedule!"

"So you didn't know about us going back in time?"

"Going back in what?"

"Hmm. I guess he doesn't know..."

"Nor does he care. He just needs what he needs. However many times we _do _play the Song of Time, I guess it'll never really affect him."

"Oh."

"Well, did you get your instrument back?" asked the salesman.

"Yeah, I got it."

"Oh good!"

Suddenly an organ popped out of _nowhere._

"Whoa! Where'd that organ come from?" asked Link.

"What?" asked the salesman.

"The organ... it just came out of nowhere!"

"I've had it here the whole time."

Link was confused out of his mind, but at the same time didn't care. He just wanted to no longer be a deku scrub. He had been one for a full three days... well, three minutes in real time.

"Okay, now I'm going to teach you a song. This song sooths the body, calms the soul, treats the wound, and heals the heart. It is called the _Song of Healing."_

"The Song of Healing, eh? Sounds Interesting..."

_The blemishes of life  
and the wounds of battle  
are washed away by the sacred Terminian melody._

"Play along with me. I'll play it twice around first."

Then, he began to play. The melody was calm and relaxing. It made Link feel pure and clean. Not to mention it also made him feel lighter. What a wonderful sound!

"Okay, now you play it."

Link whipped out his Deku Pipes and began to play. He had gotten good at being able to play things by ear. The melody stuck in his head like the Master Sword in the Pedestal of Time. Then, the melody came into effect after Link played it through once. Suddenly, Link fell unconscious.

_He was back in the black abyss. There were the deku scrubs again. _

_This time, they weren't chasing Link. _

_They were running away from him, as if Link had two torches in is hands. The horrid crackling noise began to fade, and Link waved goodbye to the deku scrubs, knowing that the scrubs resembled the curse, and the curse was running from him. The curse had been lifted. He was a human again.  
_

Link awakened back in the wheel room. Then, a mask fell from his face and onto the floor. Link looked at his body again. He was back to normal. He felt his arms and his face, and knew that he was back. The mask on the floor lay there, dormant. It was the face of a deku scrub.

"Link! You're back to normal! Not to mention you have an _inherent mask!"_

"An inherent mask?"

"That mask! When you put it on, you'll turn back into the scrub. But when you take it off, you'll go right back to normal!"

"Neat, I guess."

Link had a steady thought in his mind that he would never be a scrub again, but he kept the mask for keepsakes.

"Now, fairy boy, that I have returned you to your original form, please give me my mask."

Then, an awkward silence fell, and Link took a tiny step back.

"What?" asked the salesman.

Link said nothing.

"You _did _get the mask... didn't you?"

No response.

"You didn't get it!"

Link made a nervous face.

"No! No! I need that mask back! Don't you get it, fairy boy? If the Skull Kid keeps that mask, who the hell _knows _what could happen? He could even make the moon fall!"

"Hmm, what a coincidence," Link mumbled.

"I'm sorry for overreacting, but I really do need it back."

"I'll get it back. You can count on me."

"Just have it to me by the Carnival of Time. That is in three days. After that, I will need to depart and head back to Hyrule."

"Yeah, me too."

"Go ahead, fairy boy. We haven't any time to waste."

Link began to walk out the big door, but before he left, he turned around and told the salesman one more thing.

"Before I go, I should tell you one thing... Keep these words in mind, always."

"What?"

"Times changes everything, yet at the same time it changes nothing."

_The salesman, however, could never fathom the profundity of the statement. He had not been what Link had been through._

Link walked out of the wheel room.

"Link, I just remembered something."

"What?"

"Do you remember what Tael said up on the summit?"

"_Swamp... Mountains... Ocean... Canyon... the four who are there, bring them here."_

"Yeah, kinda."

"Well, I know what it means."

"What?"

_In the beginning of Termina's sacred time, four immortal giants united to create the land. Each giant walked off into a respective direction, designating each sect with its own properties: an everglade, a mountain range, an immense bay, and a deep canyon. They created a world in which all geographical environments could live together in harmony. In the heart of Termina laid Clock Town, the center of Termina's spirit and citizen body. _

_On one unpleasant and unexpected day in Termina, the Skull Kid, with Majora's mask placed a malevolent curse upon the entire land of Termina. The curse affected every area of the land. The water in the swamp became venomous, the mountains' temperature significantly dropped, the ocean's water became more and more murky, and the canyon became infested with evil spirits of the dead. In each direction lay a resurrected monster within the temples._

_Odolwa, Goht, Gyorg, and Twinmold; all monsters of the legendary evil spirit Majora. Each giant in every direction became consumed by the cruel power of the temples and were thrown into an abstract dimension, the entrance to which is unknown. The only way to free the giants was to open the portal to the dimensions, and the only way to open the portal was to defeat the beasts guarding the portals. There was no other choice. Once all of the giants are freed, the can reunite, and stop Majora from destroying the land of Termina._

Link was greatly overwhelmed.

"What?"

"That is what we must do, Link. We must free all four of the giants, and put an end to this terror."

"You know, you're right. I'm quite ready for another adventure anyway."

"Good! Now, our first destination is the swamp, and the quickest way to get there is through the Southern Gate."

Link ran forward towards the southern gate. There the guard was again, and he _also _tried to stop Link from exiting.

"Whoa, little boy! I can't just let you wander off into Termina field without any means of equipment or weaponry! ... wait, is that a sword I see?"

Then the guard straightened up and relaxed.

"My apologies, sir. I wasn't aware you were properly equipped. Woodfall and the Southern Swamp lie in this direction. It's become rather nasty down there, for lack of a better word... The water has become poisonous, and there might be some creepy creatures down there, so be careful."

Link walked right past the guard and into Termina Field. Little did Link know what he was about to see.

It was a large, vast field. It extended to the borders of Termina where there were nothing but thick trees. Straight ahead, he could see the jungle and the swamp. He saw a number of wooden pillars leading to the Swamp and a huge volcano-like crater coming out from far behind the trees. He looked to the left and saw that the terrain changed from grassy to rocky after several miles, and then looked to the right to see more grass and trees. As he expected, a sign lay before him...

**SOUTHERN TERMINA FIELD**

**To the Southern Swamp - follow the wooden pillars straight ahead.  
To Milk Road - Head SOUTHWEST towards Romani Ranch Gate (Beware of predator birds)  
To Ikana Canyon - Head EAST until reaching large stone pillars**

**Thank you.**

**- Mayor Dotour of Clock Town  
**

"Hey, Tatl, what's that?"

"It's Woodfall. It lies within the swamp and is where the first giant is. That purple fluid cascading down it is venomous water."

Link also saw the gate to Milk Road on his right hand side in the distance. He did not know where it led, but was not interested at this point. He began to walk forward. He also began to feel an uncomfortable humidity coming from the swamp. He didn't enjoy it. But that didn't stop him. He continued. Having done what he had before nothing could stand in his path. Not even Majora himself.

The field seemed to grow even larger as he passed through it. The closer he got to the swamp, the grassier, muggier, and hotter it got. He somewhat wished he was back in town. Link passed the pillars and then walked through some sort of tunnel-like log. It seemed as if someone put it there for him. Then he saw a large, large tree, without any leaves. There was a little drawing on the trunk of it.

"Oh, Link! Look!"

He could tell that Tatl was referring to the drawing.

"What is it?"

"It's a drawing of the Skull Kid! I remember when we made this! It's permanent fairy dust that Tael and I drew it with! Wow. That was a long time ago."

_The unmasked Skull Kid skipped about Termina field with the two fairies fluttering closely behind him. They cheerfully played in the flower patches and played with the butterflies. The sun was shining down on the beautiful field and citizens of Clock Town strolled by, smiling. Tatl and Tael fluttered over to the tree and traced out an image of the Skull Kid. It made him happy._

_Days passed. They turned to weeks, as the weeks turned to months, and months turned to years. Things began to change. On one cold rainy day in the field, the lonely Skull Kid sat shivering underneath the log tunnel, wishing someone was there to comfort him. The two fairies fluttered up and kept him company. Several days later, the Skull Kid found Majora's Mask behind a shrub near the entrance to Romani Ranch. The pattern was intriguing to him. It nearly hypnotized him. No one was watching, so he put it on. At first, he felt nothing, but as weeks passed, things began to change._

_He never knew what hit him._

"Ugh. Good memories that turn into a nightmare. I hate thinking about it. Just keep going into the swamp," said Tatl.

Link ran on past the tree and on into the lighter parts of the swamp. Luckily, the distance from Clock Town to the swamp was not very great. It was nothing compared to the walk from Kokiri Forest to Lon Lon Ranch. He passed by a tall, dead tree infested with bats. As he ran, he could sense the stench of the swamp getting worse. It smelled like death So this was it. It was extremely humid, the water looked disgusting, and there was a very unattractive aroma in the air.

"Ugh. Gross," said Link.

He could hear the unpleasant sounds of crickets and frogs in the distance. There was a number of lily pads on the water, and an elevated hut above the sick water. It was almost inviting him to come in and get away from the sickness of the swamp.

"Should I go inside?"

"Yeah, I guess. Maybe theres help for all I know."

Link ran onto the dock and scaled the ladder up to the hut. Ironically, there was another Deku Scrub salesman on a flower to the left of him, just like back in town. He continued on inside. There was a little ticket booth forward and a large, husky man to the left.

"Hey, there sprout! Have any pictographs you wanna show me?"

"Huh?"

"Oh, you don't know about out picto gallery? If you bring back pictos of something _interesting _you get to win prizes! How cool does that sound?"

"Good...I guess."

Without even asking the man tossed a pictograph box at Link.

"Here ya' go! If you see anything neat, take a picto and bring it back here!"

"Will do, sire."

Link walked over to the ticket booth where there was a hole. He presumed someone was supposed to be working there. But there wasn't. There was a note instead.

_Hello there!_

_Sorry for the inconvenience, but I've headed out into the Woods of Mystery to collect some ingredients for my sister's potion shop. There was also something else I had to check out in the woods. I'm sorry, but all boat tours are closed until I return. If you would like to embark first thing tomorrow morning, sign your name below. Have a nice day!_

_Koume, Swamp Tours Manager_

"Koume?" said Link, "that name sounds really familiar."

"It does?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe you're just having déjà vu ."

"No, this is too big to be déjà vu."

"Hmm. Well, that's not important. We can worry about that later. Let's do more exploring."

Link walked out of the hut and down the ladder.

"Link, put on the Deku mask."

"What! Are you kidding? I hated being that puny little scrub!"

"Just for a minute, Link! Then you can take it off again!"

"Augh, fine."

Link donned the mask and painfully shrunk down to the scrub again.

"Link, Deku Scrubs can skip on water five times. You can use this to your advantage so you don't have to swim in this sick water."

"Hey, why didn't you say so?"

Link hopped about the water, on and off the lily pads.

"This is kinda fun!"

Link continued to skip on the water until he reached land again. When he got off, he took off the mask. He walked through a "corridor of stems and leaves", where he was beckoned by numerous Deku babas, which he hadn't encountered since the Forest Temple. They didn't bother him at all anymore.

After a time of walking through the glorious swamp, Link came upon another area of the swamp. It was another elevated hut, except this time it was higher, and the water was shallow. Link needed all the help he could get, so he went ahead and just climbed up the the top, and walked inside.

Then, Link let out a huge scream of terror.

"_AAAAAAHHH!"_

Link ran back outside.

"What's wrong!"

"Tha-- tha-- that was one of th- the wit-wi- _witches!_"

"What witches?"

"The ones I battled back in Hyrule at the Spirit Temple! Tha- that's one of them!"

Then, a brief memory fired back at Link.

"_We'll come back to haunt you!" said the witches as their spirits floated up through the ceiling, as Link stood in the silent room of the Spirit Temple._

"They-- they weren't lying!"

Then, the witch walked outside.

"Geez, little boy, would you please not do that? It'll make me think you are afraid of me!"

Link was too stunned to speak.

"Well, what's wrong, green boy? Cat got yer' tongue?"

Link still didn't say anything.

"You'll have to excuse my friend. He's not too sharp meeting new people, especially those who... who have diamonds on their heads," said Tatl.

"Eh, don't worry about it, Tinkerbelle. If you want any potions, I'll be inside. Green Potion is on sale for only 15 rupees!"

Kotake walked back into the shop.

"I'm getting out of here!"

Link _jumped _off of the ledge and into the water.

"Link, would you just relax already? That witch didn't even recognize you!"

"Whaat?"

"Maybe they don't remember anything before you destroyed their spirits. There's also a chance that they had an _evil spirit _within them and you destroyed it."

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, whatever. I still don't want to go back in there."

"Oh, for the love of the goddesses, Link. Bow up."

"Right... I'm gonna go through that tunnel over there. Maybe it leads somewhere important."

"That's the Woods of Mystery."

"Sounds good to me."

"Link, there are rabid tortoises!"

"I can handle it!"

Link ran in without any consent. It was a maze-like forest, almost identical to the Lost Woods. There was a little monkey hopping around in the middle.

"Hey, you! Follow me!"

"Why the hell not?" Link thought, "what harm could it be?"

The monkey began to run, and Link followed him. He ran around each corner and made many turns.

"Hey, wait up!"

He continued to follow the agile simian. There were random "razorblade-spinning tortoises" everywhere. Weird. Weird indeed. But they didn't bother Link at all.

Then, Link was once again beckoned by _the other witch! _He was too stunned to move again, despite what Tatl said.

"You, boy in green!"

The witch was lying on the ground, as if someone or something had injured her.

"Well, don't just stand there, do you have anything that can heal?"

"Um..."

"You don't! That blasted Skull Kid has crossed the line with me, and I need some red potion to revive myself. Go back to the swamp to my sister's shop and get some potion, and step on it!"

Link just ran out. He didn't want to say anything else.

He was back in the gloomy swamp. All he could do was simply reminisce on that fateful day in which he battled the two sorceresses in the Spirit Temple. The same day he freed the sixth sage... the same day he witnessed something he would never witness again. He could vividly remember the way the mirror shield countered every attack by the witches. It was the most useful piece of equipment he had found besides the Longshot and the Fairy Bow.

_"The little boy's quite a feisty one, ain't he, Kotake?"_

_"Indeed he is! Look at him! He even beat our decoy Iron Knuckle!"_

_"Tee hee! Agile and strong, yet foolish!! We'll just see how he reacts to the extreme powers of heat and cold!!"_

_"Prepare for battle!!!"_

_"You sure we shouldn't just brainwash him, like we did with that Gerudo traitor?"_

_"Of course not!! I'd take a much greater pleasure in watching him suffer in boiling magma or frigid ice!!"_

Was it them? Were they back again to haunt him? Had they actually been revived by Majora... or _Ganondorf?! _Were they waiting for Link in disguise, just to pounce on him and take sweet revenge when he least expected it?

"I don't even know if it's possible to find out!!" said Link, "I guess I'll just head back to the witches' shop..."

"Might as well, Link. No point in dwelling on past experiences."

_"All right..."  
_


	5. Finding the River

**Chapter 5 – Finding the River**

Link stood back in the Southern Swamp, looking directly at the potion shop again.

"Well, it's obvious that the witch in the woods was the potion shop manager's sister, so let's go up!" said Tatl.

"No way, Tatl. I'm not going through this again."

"Going through _what _again!"

"You wouldn't know. This was back in Hyrule when I actually _battled _both of them in the Spirit Temple."

"Yeah, you told me already, but it's apparent that they don't remember. They must have been brainwashed."

"I'm not willing to risk it."

"Link, do you want to free the giant from the clutches of the swamp or not! We can't just walk through this like it's nothing at all. If we want to get somewhere, we're going to have to do things we don't want to do, and we'll have to take some risks!"

Link didn't say anything. He looked down at his Terminian watch. It was 1:19 PM of the first day.

"Now, let's just go, okay?"

"Okay, fine."

Link ran up to the large potion shop and climbed up the ladder, despite his very low ambition, and walked in the door.

"Well, hello again, Mr. Afraid of Witches."

"Sorry, I overreacted," said Link, knowing it was not true.

"Well whatcha need? I'm all outta blue potion till I get some more from the woods."

"Yeah, well I was just in the woods, and I saw someone…hurt."

"Who?"

"She looked like you."

"What! Koume's in trouble! Oh golly-gosh yonkers!"

"Huh?"

"Here, take this and take it to her, green kid."

Kotake handed Link a bottle of red potion.

"Well, hurry up there!"

Link went ahead and exited, wondering why the lazy witch just wouldn't get off her ass and do it herself.

"Well, you heard her, let's go!" said Tatl.

"Huh?"

"_Go, Link."_

"Who made you boss?"

"Will you just go already? We haven't any time to waste."

Link climbed down the ladder and ran back into the Woods of Mystery, where that same old monkey ironically happened to be waiting for him again.

"Where'd ya go, mister?"

"Uh…home."

"Well, follow me!"

Link went ahead and followed the nimble monkey again, wondering what he wanted exactly. He continued to dodge those annoying razorblade turtles, because they weren't even worth wasting a blade on…if that would even work.

Well, there was Koume again, in the exact same state she was in when Link first saw her.

"You there! Do you have anything that can heal?"

"Yeah, it's right here."

Link handed her the bottle of potion.

"Oh…this is good. I can tell by the taste of it that it's Kotake's. _Wow. What a delightful potion! I feel so much better!"_

Koume's crystal on her forehead emanated a bright, fiery light.

"Thanks, fairy boy! In my gratitude, I would like to grant you a free swamp tour! Come over to the hut near the Termina field entrance!"

With that, Koume was off.

"Well, you heard her."

"Yeah, yeah."

Link ran out of the forest, only to be beckoned by three monkeys, who wouldn't let him pass.

"You have super powers, no?" said a monkey, "What is your purpose here? Most that come to the swamp have no specific intentions, but you, fairy boy, we can smell. We smell your ambitions, and we know you are here for a reason. We were hoping you could help us rescue our friend. He was captured by the Deku Scrubs and was thrown in prison, just because they _thought _he captured their princess."

"Did he?"

"No. We monkeys would never do such a thing. It was that stupid Skull Kid. We are trying to find a way to get into the chamber to free our friend. I heard somewhere that there was one solitary _spring _of fresh, clean water in the swamp, but we can't find it. "

"Oh."

"If you are willing, could you use your powers to help us?"

After saying that, all three monkeys ran off and out of sight. Link never even got an opportunity to really say anything else.

"What was that all about?"

"I know exactly what that was all about," said Tatl.

"…and?"

"Let me show you something."

Suddenly Link found himself floating, above some sort of Deku scrub sanctuary, and then in a private room where a rather fancy looking scrub sat, reading a book. He didn't know, but this was 8 days earlier.

"See her? That's the princess, and that's her monkey companion, Knabb."

"The princess?"

"Yes. The Deku Scrub Princess."

_It was peaceful and tranquil, until…_

_The door bashed open and the princess screamed. It was the Skull Kid…without Majora's Mask. The mask was attached to his belt. But it wasn't only him. Tatl and Tael followed him._

"_Who are you!" asked the terrified princess._

_The Skull Kid did not answer. He just continued to stare at her._

"_What do you want from me!"_

_Then, horror struck, and he donned Majora's Mask._

"_M-Majora?"_

_The Skull Kid picked up the princess and then launched off into the sky. _

"_Where are you taking me?"_

_The Skull Kid swooped down into a temple in the middle of a crater-like hole, full of venomous water, and tossed the princess into a hole from out the back, into an even smaller room, locked in by vines._

"_Why are you doing this to me?"_

_The Skull Kid never said a word, and just ran out, and back in the Deku palace, the King ran into the princess's room._

"_Princess? Are you okay?"_

_She wasn't there._

"_What happened!"_

_Knabb sat on her bed._

"_Mr. King, someone came in and captured her!"_

"_What! No!"_

"_I couldn't stop them!"_

_The king had a hard time believing him._

"_Well where did this criminal take her?"_

"_I...I don't know!"_

_The king remained skeptical._

"_You lie, Knabb!"_

"_No! No, your majesty!_

"_We won't have any more of this! Guards, put this monkey into confinement until we find the princess! If we do not find her, we will find the monkey guilty!"_

"_But, sir! I promise you, I didn't--"_

"_Silence! I've heard enough!"_

_Then several guards rushed in and took the monkey to a solitary jail cell right beside the king's chamber and tied him up to a wooden pole._

"_This is all a mistake!" said the monkey._

"_Butler, form a search party for the princess and dispatch nocturnal guards all across the swamp and Woodfall, on the double!"_

"_Yes sir!"_

Then, Link was back in present day.

"See, Link? That's how it all happened. Now, if we work together, we can free the innocent monkey and save the Deku princess, as well as the giant imprisoned within the Woodfall Temple. There is a spring hidden somewhere here, and albeit that's our key in. We just have to find the pure river."

"I see."

"So, let's go to the boat tour hut. We can get somewhere if we go there first."

"You're right."

With that, Link was off, back to the hut.

* * *

Despite Link's many hardships, things were going differently in his former home. 

Back in Hyrule, things were very peaceful. Zora's Domain had returned to its original state, the forest was ridded of moblins, The Shadow Temple's spirits were at rest, and all was well. However, within the idyllic paradise laid some feelings of sadness and despair. Some people had begun to miss Link.

Saria walked outside of her Kokiri Forest household to go water some plants. On the way over to her garden, she glanced over at Link's old house. But she saw his house every day, to and from the Deku Tree and the garden, and never felt any strong feelings. But today she could feel Link, and she really began to wonder….

Nowadays, no one was allowed to intrude into Link's house, unless granted consent by the Royal Family. The house was now an official landmark of Hyrule.

As Saria looked at Link's house that day, a solitary memory hit her. The memory of the day Link got his first fairy, and stepped outside of his house, before he even embarked on his Deku Tree quest. As weird as it seemed, that was almost two years ago, with the exception of the excessive time travel through seven years. It felt like it was only yesterday…but at the same time, it felt as if it had been an eternity since that day.

_Link waked out of his house and onto the balcony. He felt very refreshed and anew with Navi. This was the first day of the rest of his life._

_Saria ran up near the base of the house._

"_Hi, Link!"_

"_Hey, Saria."_

"_How do you like having your fairy?"_

"_It's great! Now I'm not the oddball anymore."_

"_Come down, Link! The forest awaits you!"_

"_Awaits me?"_

"_Of course! The Great Deku Tree told me to come get you; he wants to see the new you!"_

_Link chuckled and came down from his house, with Navi fluttering down with him._

What a great day that was, even though countless moments of turmoil and horror followed. Saria sighed and continued on to the garden. She truly missed Link.

Link could feel her. All the way in Termina. He never left. These sad feelings, however, did not get Link down. They actually motivated him, because he knew he would not have the strength he had today if he never met Saria. She was his best friend, whom he knew long before Malon, or Darunia…or even Zelda.

* * *

"What's wrong?" asked Tatl. 

"Nothing. Let's go inside."

Link was already at the hut. He walked inside, to greet Koume, who was waiting for him at her little booth.

"Well, hey there, fairy kid! Thanks again for helping me out! So you wanna go on a tour? Like I said earlier, this one's free!"

"Yeah, sure."

"Okay, good! Well, the boat's gonna go all around the swamp. But I should warn you now that some parts of the swamp are dangerous, and have venomous water, so be careful."

"I will."

"Okay, then! The boat's leaving!"

Then, Link stood on the boat. It wasn't the best boat ever, but it wasn't too shabby either. But then the boat began to move.

"This sure is more convenient than lily pad hopping."

The boat moved on and on, and Link spotted a large Octorok up ahead…very similar to the one he battled long ago inside Jabu-Jabu.

"Whoa…are we going to…_run_ _in to that?" _

"Don't worry about a thing."

The front tip of the tour boat pierced the octorok and killed it instantly, without Link needing to do one thing. He was rather relieved.

Then, the scene of the swamp was completely different. It looked somewhat nicer, but still maintained the same uncomfortable atmosphere. The water was purple. That could only mean that it was venomous, just like he had heard before. He knew not to touch it. All of the leaves on the trees were an unusual color, similar to the colors you see in the autumn.

There was also a waterfall to the right, with two ledges on either side of it. For some reason, Link felt that the waterfall had some significance, just like it did back at Zora's River. But he could worry about that later. Now he was just concerned about the Deku Palace, wherever that could be.

Then he saw the dock. The dock that led into the palace extended out, just waiting for Link to disembark onto it.

Then the boat pulled up to the dock and Link heard Koume's recorded voice.

"Welcome to the Deku Palace of Woodfall, where the Deku King and Princess Reign! Only Deku scrubs are allowed in. Are you disembarking?"

Link just got off, and the boat remained in the same spot waiting for him. He approached the entrance, and saw another monkey. Before he could talk to him, he ran inside without leaving a trace behind. Link began to follow until Tatl stopped him.

"Wait, Link. You heard Koume. Only _Deku Scrubs _are allowed in."

"Oh…bummer."

Link began to walk back to the boat.

"_Link!"_

"What?"

"The mask, you idiot!"

"Oh yeah…right."

Link, having forgotten about the deku mask went ahead and donned it.

"Happy now? I'm a little runt again."

"Let's just go inside."

Link ran inside in his deku scrub form. He crossed the 'moat' to see that there were two deku scrub guards.

"Welcome to the Deku Palace, the home of the Royal Family of the Deku. You may enter only into the doorway straight ahead. Do not enter either one of the side doors whatsoever."

That wasn't good. When Link didn't know why not to do something it only made him want to do it so much more, but he had to resist himself. He ran through the corridor to the doorway dead ahead.

"Hey, Link," said Tatl.

"What is it?"

"It's night."

Time had flown by Link like an eagle. It was 6:20 PM. The moon had gotten closer.

"Sorry, that was a distraction. We still have two more days. Let's go."

Link walked forward into the king's chamber.

There was a large pit in the center of a room, filled with flaming wood. The king stood beyond the pit before his throne, with an empty spot to his left. The he saw the prison chamber where Knabb was tide to the wooden post. Link looked at him.

"Hey, little scrub! Help me! They think I captured the princess but I didn't! This is all wrong!"

"I know what happened. A few of your friends confronted me. I'll do my best."

Link approached the king.

"Hello, young scrub! I'm sorry, but we are in a bit of a crisis now! I'll answer all your questions once we find our princess. That monkey over there won't tell us anything, so we're trying to force it out of him."

"But sir--"

"No, Link. Don't say anything; you might get yourself into even more trouble," said Tatl.

Link turned around to exit the chamber and was back in the main corridor.

"We have to go through another door."

"As much as I hate to say this, you're right."

"Left or right?"

"Um…I think you should go left."

"You sure?"

"No, but I trust my instinct. Go left."

"Okay, Tatl."

Link went left and saw that there was a group of Deku guards present.

"Uh-oh," said Tatl.

"Don't worry, Tatl. I've had a similar experience before."

Link approached the first guard. He knew that they would be simple, just like the guards back at Hyrule Castle way back when.

Geez…that was a long time ago.

Link easily dodged the first guard by running around a large boulder. He then discovered that there were little towers, where mean scrubs perched apex of, spitting nuts. He'll deal with them later.

"Hey, Link, to dodge this next guard, you need to knock him out with a bubble."

"Are you crazy?"

"It's the only way."

Link shot a weak bubble at the guard. Ironically, the bubble would temporarily stun the guard, giving Link ample time to run past him.

Soon enough, though, he would snap out of it.

Now, Link was in some sort of garden, where he saw a guard perfectly visible over two rows of plants. If Link could see him this easily, so could the guard.

"Gosh, these guards suck…" said Link quietly.

"Whoa! Who said that?" said the guard.

"Oh, damn it!" said Link, throwing a deku shell around him (his shield), hoping he would blend in with the surroundings.

"Suspicious noises!" exclaimed the guard to the others, "be alert!"

The guard continued to walk.

"Hey, Tatl, is it safe?"

"Yeah. This time don't speak to yourself."

Link came out of the shell and bypassed the garden…only to reach _another one._

"Damn it!" thought Link.

But that wasn't the worst. He had also reached a dead end, and there were _two _guards. Link ran for cover behind a log.

"Tatl! What do I do now? It's a dead end!"

"There's always a way, Link. If there was nothing back here, there would be no guards."

Link peeked over the ledge of the log. The naïve guards with superior hearing continued to walk, not seeing Link.

Then, Link spotted a grotto, behind another wall.

"Tatl! There's a grotto!"

"Then let's go!"

Link ran when the guards were facing another direction and quickly dropped down the hole.

Then he was down in a simple grotto. Wait, it was not just a _simple grotto. _Link heard the sound of running water, flowing down a stream. He saw the secret river. Beside it sat a big fat guy chomping down on beans.

Now where had he seen this fat guy before? He saw him first back at Zora's River.

"Hey there, sprout! Wanna buy some magic beans for 10 rupees?"

"What the heck, they're sure to be helpful sometime."

Link bought them and then bottled some pure, fresh water, and then left the grotto.

He didn't want to go through the trouble of sneaking all the way back, so he intentionally got caught by one of the guards.

"Aha! You thought you could sneak past me, didn't ya? Nice try, shorty."

The guard kicked Link out immediately; out to the entrance of the palace.

"And stay out! You've got no business intrudin' in the Deku Palace! Go back to town!!" said the Guard

"What a stupid jackass," said Link.

"Link, I think you should see where these lily pads lead to," said Tatl.

There were lily pads that drifted off to the right hand side. Link couldn't leave them unexplored. They had to be there for some reason, right? He hopped on the first one and continued on to the end, being careful not to fall into the venomous water. He could now tell that these pads led to an unexplored sector.

Then he saw a patch of soil conveniently waiting for him, as if someone had specifically intended for this to happen. Link planted the magic beans, and then poured the pure spring water onto it. It grew instantly. That's why they call 'em Magic Beans.

Link went ahead and stepped upon the magic leaf, which elevated him to the upper portion of the palace, where the mean scrubs awaited him. Their stupid nuts weren't even a match to Link's incredible bubbles. The platform must've been used by Deku Scrub aerial guards, but Link had no idea who would make an airborne intrusion.

Link had an aerial view of the palace's garden from there, and no guards could see him. He felt as if he was reliving his early Hyrule Castle mission again, except this one just seemed ridiculous.

"Are you sure this is right, Tatl?"

"Of course, Link. Do you have doubts or something? We're on a roll here!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm just kinda tired."

"Well, I guess this is a good place to take a rest, since none of the guards can see you. I don't see why it would hurt to crash until morning?"

"Are you serious? Don't you think we have some more work to be done? Who knows what they could have done to that monkey by now?"

"I don't know, but of course I'm serious! I know you're not immortal, Link! We all need our beauty sleep!"

Link chuckled.

"Thanks, Tatl. I just need to rest off some of this stress. I'll be much more energetic in the morning."

Link took off the Deku mask and lied down beside the wall and gazed up into the sky. The moon had gotten closer again. He saw weird symbols in the constellations, as if it were some sort of message. Then the symbols began to make better sense.

There was an outline of the Triforce that Link could see. It didn't just look like it. It was identical, and all of the stars shone a different, golden eminence. He could feel Hyrule again. He closed his eyes and realized that he really did miss it now. But that was behind him, and he couldn't go back now. He had to wait. Just a couple more days...


	6. A Brother of Time

AN:

Well, if you were waiting for a change, here it is. This is a new side chapter of mine, which is completely original and has no part in the game. If you read the last chapter, you should now know that Link is inside the palace and is crashing in a safe spot for the night. It isn't quite morning yet, and everything is quiet and dormant…except for Link's mind.

**Chapter 6 – A Brother of Time**

Link looked around. He appeared to be standing in an abstract abyss. He quite frankly did not know where he was or what was going on.

"Hey, Tatl."

For some reason, Tatl was gone. But where on earth could she have gone to? This worried Link. But he continued to look around the abyss. It was very interesting.

No, it wasn't just a gigantic, white or black abyss of nothingness. There seemed to be waves of some sort flying around the place. Link could also see that he was standing on a solid platform. He didn't want to jump into the waves. He was afraid, because they could do anything.

"Tatl! Where are you?"

No response.

"Where am _I?_"

Link saw lights moving about in the distance. Beautiful lights flying around like fireflies, just like in Kokiri Forest.

"_Is there anybody out there?" _

Link's calls echoed far and reverberated off of the invisible walls, but no one responded.

"_Someone answer me! Is anyone out there? Tatl! Skull Kid! Zelda! Anyone!"_

"You don't have to yell so loud, Link," said an unknown voice.

"Who are you! Where am I! How did I get here!"

"Relax, Link. Everything is okay. You're dreaming right now. It isn't morning yet. Your dream has become so intense it feels this real to you, and you cannot awaken until the dream is over."

"So this is some sort of prison?"

"Not at all, Link."

"Well, what is the purpose of this?"

"You. You are the purpose of this."

"What? _Who are you?"_

"Link, you do not know me, but I know you."

"How?"

"I've been watching you, Link. Ever since you set foot in Termina."

"Are you… are you _stalking _me?"

"No, Link."

"Well, who are you then! Show yourself, damn it!"

"Relax, Link."

There was a silence.

"Link, I am Gabourri."

"Who?"

"I think you know who I am. You've heard my legend before."

"Have I?"

Link had heard of Gabourri before, he just could not recall…until he thought harder and remembered way back when he saw the Happy Mask Salesman.

_The terrified mask salesmen knew what was going on, and had to find a way to get rid of the mask so it could no longer torment innocent and lonely souls. One mask salesman, by the name of **Gabourri** came up with a solution to banish the mask in the gap between dimensions and seal it in a chamber of fire forever, so it could fall into the hands of evil no more. A team of mask cast the mask into the Hyrulean Black Hole, hoping it would never be seen again._

_The Hyrulean Black Hole is a bottomless pit which leads to the depths of nowhere. The salesmen thought cursing the mask into this hole would do away with it forever._

_But they were wrong._

"You…you were the first man to discover the mask?"

"I was."

"So…what are you now?"

"An eternal spirit. After doing away with the mask, I retired my life as a salesman and began training to be a warrior. After I mastered my skills as a Terminian Warrior, I went up to battle Majora. It wasn't an easy battle, but I defeated him, and Termina was ridded of evil for good…until Majora's mask found a hole in the dimension and eased its way back into the land. On that day, Majora was revived, and he seeks revenge."

"Well, what now?"

"Link, I cannot do anything right now. It is up to you to save the land of Termina. I know you are capable of doing so."

"How do you know me so well?"

"Link, you are the one. You are the Hero of Time."

"You know about Hyrule?"

"Of course. I know that you were responsible for the defeat of Ganondorf."

"Really?"

"Never underestimate my knowledge. I know about your legacy. You were born to a troubled mother in Kakariko Village. When you were very young, your mother passed away and you were taken into custody within the forest by the Great Deku Tree. That was when your fate was chosen, Link."

Link stood on the platform, amazed.

"This is probably new knowledge to you. I know you are somewhat shocked, which is expected. Listen to me... I want to tell you a story."

_A congregation of fairies were gathered in Kokiri Forest around the Great Deku tree, not even a day before Link met Navi, his first fairy._

_"The bi-monthly convention of the Fairies of Hyrule has commenced!" said the Great Deku Tree._

_A fairy named Kiadki fluttered up to the small fairy's podium to address the first issue to be dealt with in Kokiri Forest. She recited the words on the Kokirian governmental document:_

_**ISSUE NUMBER ONE:** Expected Turmoil in Hyrule  
_

_We have just been informed by the Hyrule Castle Ambassador of the Lost Woods that a new threat has emerged in the country of Hyrule and trouble is expected to brew within the next seven years. The embassy did not release any names, but we were informed by princess Zelda that a Gerudo man living at the castle and working for the king is secretly planning to overthrow the monarchy of Hyrule and establish a new government under his authority._

_As of now, the Gerudo man is in search for the three spiritual stones: The Kokiri's Emerald, in possession of the Great Deku Tree; The Goron's Ruby, in possession of Darunia, the leader of the Gorons of Death Mountian; and The Zora's Sapphire, in possession of Princess Ruto of Zora's Domain of Hyrule. We must take drastic measures to ensure that this evil man does not obtain our precious emerald. The Emerald Safety Commission will meet immediately following this conference. _

_ **SUBPOINT ON ISSUE NUMBER ONE: **The Great Deku Tree's Health_

_This evil Gerudo man snuck out of Hyrule Castle in the middle of the night roughly two years ago and put a small parasite inside the Deku Tree's mouth while the tree was dormant. The parasite has grown into a monstrous arachnid and is beginning to reproduce. If this parasite is not eliminated soon, the Deku Tree will most likely die._

All of the fairies began to fret and ramble with one another.

_"Order, order!" yelled Kiadke._

_It is essential that an able warrior, preferably a well-known Hylian warrior exterminate the arachnid as soon as possible. The embassy is already searching for a warrior. If the warrior exterminates the parasite soon enough, the Deku Tree will survive. This curse must be lifted at once._

_**ISSUE NUMBER TWO: **Kokiri Lacking a Fairy_

_It has been brought to our attention that there is a resident of Kokiri Forest, named Link, who has lived her for approximately eight years, does not have a fairy companion like the other Kokiri children. If this child does not find a fairy companion within ten days, we will have no choice but to put him into foster care in Kakariko Village. Under Kokirian law, all Kokiri children of Hyrule are required to have a fairy companion. As of now, we are not sure if any of the fairies in the forest are without a child companion._

_If there is any fairy in this congregation without a child, please speak now!_

_- There was silence across the crowd of fairies. One fairy, who longed to have a child companion fluttered into the air above the other faries. It was Navi._

_"I do not have a child companion, and I would like one," said Navi._

_"Good. Good," said Kiadke, "We will assign him to you at once._

_** SUBPOINT ON ISSUE NUMBER TWO: **Potential Warrior_

_Due to the issues stated previously, we are in desparate need of a person to exterminate the beast inside the Deku Tree. The Kokirian embassy has been searching all throughout Hyrule and has not been able to locate a warrior. If the Kokiri child without a fairy is willing to risk his life for the greater good of the forest, Kokirian law will make amends to let the child perform the heroic deed and be rewarded the treasure of the forest upon completion of the task._

_"Navi, are you willing to ask your child if he can be the hero of the Kokiri people and even further, the protector of the three spiritual stones?"_

_"I am willing to do so," responded Navi, reluctantly._

_**END OF CURRENT ISSUES**_

_**"It is established," exclaimed the Great Deku Tree, "the Hylian authorities shall be notified at once of the recent amends of Kokirian Law. Fate has been chosen on this day. Go, Navi. Awaken the new hero of the forest. Be his companion and strengthen him in all that he does, and by the power of the three goddesses, we hope that this heroic deed shall go on as it is destined to do so!"**_

"That is where it all started, Link. While you were sleeping in your treehouse in the forest of Hyrule. That is when your destiny was chosen."

Link was shocked, and amazed._  
_

"Link, come down from that platform. I want to show you something."

"What? Are you crazy? I can't even _see _you!"

"Link, there is something you must see. Please come down."

"I'm having mixed feelings."

"Link, you've got to have faith. In a way, I am your Brother of Time."

"What's that mean?"

"You are the hero of Hyrule. I _was _the hero of Termina. Link, this is fate."

Link was amazed about what he was hearing.

"Link, step down. I promise you, it will be okay."

_Link closed his eyes and walked forward. He took a step off of the platform, and fell down._

_He was falling. Falling through the unknown abyss, screaming._

"_Do not scream, Link!" said Gabourri._

_His voice followed Link, and seemed to be coming from every direction. Suddenly, Link ceased falling and just simple floated._

"_We can't go down any further. You'll just have to look. Look down, Link."_

_Link looked down._

"_I don't see anything!"_

"_Look harder, Link."_

_Link looked as hard as he could, but he still could not see anything._

"_There they are," said Gabourri._

_Then Link could see them. They were the four large, lanky giants, all reaching upward as if they were trying to…escape from something. But they couldn't budge from where they were. They were stuck, until someone or something could free them. They were helpless. They needed someone to free them. They were locked up._

"_F…fr…free…us…" said one of the voices, "free us."_

"_You need to free them, Link, and I will help you," said Gabourri._

"_But…how?"_

"_Swamp…Mountains…Ocean…Canyon. They are there, waiting for someone to help them. That someone is you, Link. Save them."_

"_But…is saving them all that easy?"_

After that, Link was back up on the platform and could no longer see the four giants.

"You decide, Link. If you think they are easy and try simply walk through it, they will just get more difficult. If you see this as a challenge, _nothing _will be able to break through your determination. Nothing."

"Well, how do I release the giant of the South?"

"He is imprisoned within the Woodfall Temple, which is obviously located in the center of Woodfall."

"Okay…where's Woodfall?"

"_Behind the waterfall."_

Link knew the second he saw the waterfall that it would have some significance.

"There is also a legendary beast inside the temple, which has been revived by Majora after 200 years at rest."

"That's a long time."

"Indeed it is…Here, take a look at him now. Step off of the platform."

Link, now trusting Gabourri, stepped off the platform.

_He was falling again. But it was different from his fall when he saw the four giants. He could feel it. He then saw an image of what looked like a boss's lair, since he already knew what a typical one would look like._

_It was a dark, round room, with moss and dried algae on the floor and walls. There was a yellow Deku flower in the center of the room. Then, Link could hear a drumbeat._

_For some reason, so many elements Link had encountered in Termina thus far seemed to remind him of something back in Hyrule. There were so many similarities, yet so many differences. The drumbeat reminded him of his battle against Bongo Bongo in the Shadow Temple._

_This time it was more than just a solitary drumbeat. It was also the sound of a tambourine._

_JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE._

_Then, a massive warrior-like monster fell from above. He was wearing a mask which seemed to resemble ancient Indian tribes. He had a large, powerful samurai's blade, and a green shield. He hefted the blade and swung it angrily, just waiting to claim his next victim…_

_Unlike most bosses Link had battled in the past, this one unusually intimidated Link. He did not know why._

_The monster let out a sinister, melodic battle cry. He did it again. And again; and he continued to repeat it. It seemed as if he knew Link was watching, and couldn't wait till he showed up so he could slash him to bits. _

"_Stop it. I don't want to look anymore."_

"_That is Odolwa, the Masked Jungle Warrior who rules the Woodfall Temple. As soon as you defeat him and take his mask, it will instantly unlock the door to the prison where the giant of the south is."_

_Link didn't say anything._

"_What's wrong?"_

"_I don't want to do this, Gabourri. I'm exhausted enough from my huge Hyrulean quest. I only came to Termina to get away for a little while."_

"_I know you may not desire any of this, Link…but if you try to battle fate, you will lose, 100 of the time. That goes for everyone. This is meant to be, Link. You are retracing my steps to save the land of Termina. Only you are capable of this. I would actually think that this would be simple for you, since you've already completed an even more difficult quest."_

"_Nothing's as easy as it looks…or sounds."_

"_Link, you'll just have to listen to me. If you go on just as fate has decided, you won't be walking alone. You already have your own companion with you, Tatl. I will also be there with you in spirit. You may not always feel it, but I will be there."_

_That actually made Link feel better and more relaxed, and once again, he suddenly _reappeared back on the platform.

"So, what do I do now, Gabourri?"

"Continue going on the path you are on now. Go release Knabb from his cell. I know for a fact that he will be of some help."

"I will do that."

"After that, the wind will blow you where you are destined to go next. Until next time, Link."

"Wait, Gabourri! Don't leave yet! I haven't even seen the real you!"

Gabourri did not respond.

"Gabourri!"

Silence.

Link knew Gabourri was gone, so he just sat down on the platform.

But…something was wrong. He was just sitting on a platform in the abyss and Gabourri was gone. Wasn't his dream supposed to be over by now?

No…the dream apparently wasn't over yet. He still had more to go. But what was it? Just sitting on the platform?

Then he saw something in the distance. This time it was up, not down. It was moving. _They _were moving. They were spheres of light. There were…one…two, three, four, five, _six _of them.

Six. What was so peculiar about that number? It just seemed to stand out. They began to come into a better view, and Link saw that they all had different colors. Green, Red, Blue, Purple, Orange, and Yellow.

Then it clicked! It was the six sages! Had they come to _visit _Link, in his dream? Then, the spheres swooped down right in front of Link and aligned, but the sages themselves did not appear, he just heard their voices. They seemed to correspond with their own color.

First was Saria's voice. Oh, how wonderful it was to hear her voice again! It was as if Link was back in Kokiri Forest talking to her face to face. Then Darunia spoke, and it went down the line of sages.

_Link, keep the liveliness of the forest._

_The energy of the mountains._

_The purity of the water._

_The immortality of the shadows._

_The spirituality of the desert._

_And the power of the eternal light._

Did they follow Link? Did they know? Or was it all just a message in a dream? After those rather short messages, the sages vanished, after only presenting one line each to Link. The shortness of their appearance didn't matter. The quality of their messages did.

_"Termina's fate depends on you, Link. Go, Link, and leave your mark."_

This time Link did not recognize the voice, and it wasn't Gabourri's. But before he could ask, all blacked out.

After that, Link awakened at the Deku palace, perfectly remembering the dream.

"Rise and shine," said Tatl.

The sun had risen, but it was cloudy. Not only that, but it had also begun to rain.


	7. Soaring High

**Chapter 7 – Soaring High**

_Pit, pat, pit, pat._

The rain began to get harder. Link could also hear thunder.

"Tatl, you won't believe what happened last night."

"I bet I will."

"I had a long dream…and I remember it."

"And?"

"I've never had a dream this huge before…well, actually I did once, but that was a long time ago, right before I started on my Hyrulean quest--"

"Will you just cut to the chase? We don't have all day."

"Gabourri spoke to me."

"Gabourri spoke to you?"

"Yes."

"Well, what did he say?"

"Hold on a second…you've heard of him?"

"Link…who _hasn't _heard of him?"

"He's that famous?"

"Famous? _Famous, _Link? _He's a Terminian icon! _His legend has been passed down for generations!"

"For defeating Majora?"

"Yes, but the only thing that remains a mystery is his identity. No one has any idea of his physical appearance…anymore. He used to be an average resident of Clock Town, and he sold masks. After he defeated Majora, he left Termina for personal reasons and was never seen again. He never had a portrait of himself painted or anything. He remains mysterious…did you see him?"

"No…I only heard him."

"Damn it. So close, yet so far away."

"I was in a very weird place, and Gabourri showed me things. Things I would never expect to see…"

"Well what did he show you?"

"I saw them. I saw the four giants from afar. They were stuck in some sort of barrier, and were crying for help. Those four tall, lanky giants. The ones Tael spoke of atop Clock Tower. The great four."

"How sad…"

"He also showed me the beast of Woodfall, Odolwa."

"You saw Odolwa?!"

"Yep."

"Ugh. I hate even thinking about that monster…he was revived by the Skull Kid, just like Majora. He tormented the swamp for years, until he was slain by a Deku scrub warrior, about 200 years ago."

Link got a little sinking feeling.

"Well, we'd better get a move on, Link."

"But what about the rain?"

"Don't worry about it. Scrubs like rain, and the lightning never hits the swamp. It always goes to Stone Tower since there isn't anything especially tall in the swamp.."

"Where's that?"

"It's in the Eastern Canyon of Ikana. We'll go there later."

_Eastern _ _Canyon__ of _ _Ikana_

"Well now do I just go flower-flying?"

"Apparently. Let's get this over with."

_Awaken us…_

"What was that?" asked Link.

"What was what?"

"Did you not just hear that?"

"Hear what, Link? Look it's probably just your imagination."

_Revive us…_

That wasn't Gabourri speaking. Link knew Gabourri's voice now. But who was speaking to him now?

_Release us…_

_Open our eyes…_

_Purify our spirits…_

_Extinguish the darkness inside us…_

_Only you have the power._

Link was perplexed, and he continued to listen, but the voices did not say anything else. He thought he was going crazy for a few seconds.

"Link, _come on. _Time is flowing down the drain as we speak."

"Right…sorry."

Link donned the Deku Mask and burrowed in the near flower, and then blasted off. He saw the next flower was on a platform…where a mean scrub sat.

"Tatl! There's a scrub!"

"Don't worry! Drop a deku nut on 'em!"

Link took the advice and dropped the stunning nut on the scrub, which did away with it instantly.

"That was easy."

Link landed on the platform. He spotted several other mean scrubs all around. He just decided to do away with them so he wouldn't have to put away with them later.

Link burrowed in the flower and blasted off again, toward the next flower. He could tell we was getting further into the palace. But he wondered… why were there so many scrub guards here if these paths did not lead anywhere??

"Hey, do you hear that?" said a scrub guard on the ground.

"Nope."

"I thought I just heard the sound of spinning deku petals. I sense an intruder. It's exactly what that pesky scrub tried to do the other day."

"You sure? Never report anything if you aren't sure."

"Maybe I'm just hearing things."

Link sprouted up and flew over to the next platform. While airborne, a huge, sick Woodfall dragonfly came over and collided with him. Link's squeamish senses went off upon contact with the sickening insect.

"Aaah!" yelled Link, startled, and falling onto the platform.

Then, all of the scrubs became alert.

"Alert! We have code blue: suspicious noises! Dispatch nocturnal guards!"

Link quickly burrowed in the next flower to hide. The scrub guards weren't smart enough to find intruders in flowers, riiight?

"Link, you idiot! What was that all about?"

"Some gargantuan dragonfly ran into me!"

"Well, deal with it!"

"I _hate _huge bugs!"

"Well, now the security's going to be higher, so you have to be ten times more careful! They might put us in that stupid jail cell with that monkey!"

"I know. Accidents happen…"

"Well, there's no point in arguing or staying in this uncomfortable hole. Let's go."

_Pop!_

Link sprouted out of the tight flower and headed for the platform on the right, trying to stay as quiet as he could.

What annoying pesky deku scrubs… trying to mess up his quest.

Then, Link had reached a platform by the wall, which led through a small hole. Link ran through the hole and onto a bridge. He discovered that he was standing right above the main corridor, but there was a hole on the other side.

_Find the entrance._

_Find the platform._

_Find the right way in._

Link ran up to the next flower, and saw more annoying mean scrubs. He powered up three bubbles and let them loose on each of the scrubs. Each measly bubble killed them in one shot.

Link burrowed again and blasted off. He was sick of taking more breaks, so he just made a beeline for the platform on the other side.

He made it to the other side and flew in. He jumped down to the little cell where Knabb the monkey was tied up.

"Hey…" Link quietly whispered.

"Hi. Who are you?" asked Knabb.

"My name's Link, and I'm here to free you. I know you're innocent."

"Oh, you are? That's just swell!"

"Yeah. How long have you been there?"

"About three days. They're trying to make me confess that I captured her, but I won't say I did it, because I did not."

"It was that meddling Skull Kid."

"It was."

"Listen, Knabb. I'm going to need a bit of help. See, I'm trying to get to the Woodfall Temple, and I need to know how to get there."

"You want to go to the Woodfall Temple? Why?"

"I think it's where the princess is hidden."

"It's in the center of Woodfall, which is outside of the palace."

"Okay."

"Well, there's a catch. The temple is…completely submerged under the venomous water."

"What?"

"It's underwater. It's been that way ever since Odolwa was slain generations ago. They don't want anyone going in there."

"How do I get in?"

"You must summon the temple. It has been dormant for all these years. I know of a _sacred song of the Deku _which can awaken the temple, and bring it to life again."

"I must know this song."

"I'll tell you. It was composed by Argott, who was the Deku Scrub king when Gabourri defeated Majora. Not only that, but Argott also defeated Odolwa. It was meant to revive all of the dormant spirits in the land of Termina. He played it on the Carnival of Time, which happened not even a minute after Majora was done away with."

_Argott stood atop Clock Tower and overlooked the amazing land of Termina, waiting for Termina's hero, Gabourri, to release the final blow on Majora._

_The clouds in the sky began to form a cyclone, directly apex the moon. He, as well as everyone else, could tell that something big had happened. Then, a large light emerged from the moon, giving off a psychedelic spectrum of colors. It was Majora's Mask._

_Suddenly, the sinister mask burst into flames, and disintegrated within 1/100th of a second. Sounds of blissful cheering were instantly heard from all four directions. Argott then took out his sacred Deku pipes, and played the Sonata of Awakening._

_The sky began to light up, and the clouds began to part. Soon, the moon was sucked into the sky, like a vacuum. The sky had become a beautiful apocalyptic orange color. Life sprung eternal in Termina that day. The notes from the Sonata of Awakening were heard from all directions, and stretched as far as the _ _Hyrulean_ _Sea__. The sonata revived the _ _land__ of _ _Termina__ from its slumber._

_From that day on, the Deku Pipes had become a symbol of salvation, and a new revival._

"It's called the Sonata of Awakening. I hope you can play things by ear."

Knabb began to hum the melody. It sounded somewhat like the Minuet of Forest. Like most other songs, this one echoed throughout Link's head. He won't forget it.

"Okay. Here goes."

Link began to play.

_TOOT. _

"Geez, Link… you wanna turn the volume down on those things?"

The horns were rather…loud. A bit too loud. At least loud enough so the Deku aristocracy could hear…

"Hey, what was that?" said the king, "who's in there?!"

_"GUUAAAAARDS!!!" _

_Eight _Deku guards approached Knabb's cell, and saw Link's pipes immediately.

"Hey! How did you get in there?! Get him out of there! The monkey, too!"

"What are you going to do?" asked Knabb.

The guards didn't answer; they just took Knabb down from the post.

"You! Scrub with the pipes! Get out of there!"

Link respectively stepped down from the cage and back into the main chamber. The guards tied Knabb to another post and placed it above the fire in the center, supported by two stilts. Link knew that if he made one false move, he would be done for.

"Wha-what are you doing!?" asked Knabb, panicked.

"Knabb!" exclaimed Link.

"Link! Go to the Woodfall Temple! That is where the Skull Kid has taken the princess. Hurry up, before it's too late!"

"But how, Knabb?"

"Hey, no fraternizing! Guards, get the scrub in the hat out of here!"

"Knabb!"

"_Link, play the sonata!"_

Before Link could respond he had been ejected from the palace. He didn't bother going back in; he ran straight for the exit, until he noticed something strange on a lily pad to the left.

It was another Deku scrub, _crying. _It wasn't the princess, and didn't look like a guard.

"Um…hello," said Link, awkwardly.

"H-h-hi…" said the sad scrub.

"I just got kicked out of the palace, an- and I was wondering if you knew where Woodfall was."

"Y-y-yeah…i-it's behind the waterfall r-right outside the palace gates. You have to c-c-….you have to climb."

"Um…may I ask what is wrong?"

"The Deku Royal Aristocracy has disowned me from the family…now I'm just another member."

"Why would they do such a thing?"

"They never let me leave the swamp! I hated being stuck here all the time, and I wanted to get out! They said I was too young to independently leave the swamp and go off by myself, and it was traditionally a law that younger members of the Deku Royal Aristocracy could not leave the swamp until approved by the King. If anyone breaks the law, they are considered deceivers of the family. They don't take deceivers. Yesterday I snuck out and went to Clock Town, because I've always wanted to go…they found out."

"Why don't they let you leave the swamp?"

"I don't know! I hate the Deku King! He's mean and unreasonable…and he banished my remaining family to the Woodfall Temple just because he thought that they stole the Skulltula tokens and the sacred Mask of Truth from the palace, and it's only because they were the only ones at the palace when they mysteriously disappeared. We still don't know who did it, but it wasn't my parents!"

The scrub began to break down again.

"Wow. That's terrible. Look, what's your name?"

"Argott."

"Oh, my name's Link…Argott? Knabb the monkey told me about you! You're the one who played the pipes after Gabourri defeated Majora!"

"No, no. That was generations ago, and that was one of my ancestors. It's our family tradition to name all of our sons after him; it's our mark in history."

"Oh. Well, I am headed to the Woodfall Temple. The Deku Princess is in there, too. Would you like to come with me?"

"Uh…I dunno…I've always been kinda…afraid of Woodfall."

"Why?"

"Have you been there? There are so many weird creatures, the water is nauseating upon smelling it, and the whole temple is underwater!"

"Not for long."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you when we get there…if you come. So, will you come?"

The skeptical scrub thought for a few seconds.

"Yeah, okay."

"Great! What's the fastest way to Woodfall?"

I can't climb those vines. It'd be more efficient just to fly there. Use the flower right outside the entrance.

Link and Argott ran outside. There was a huge, yellow flower. It was almost as if it was just waiting for him to burrow in it.

"You know how to do this stuff, don't you?"

"Of course!"

Link burrowed into the flower, and blasted off. Argott followed behind. It seemed as if Link could see a panoramic view of the swamp, just from that little flower blast. However, it wasn't so panoramic and pretty. It was rather ugly.

"Hey, Argott, the platform is too far! I'm going to land on this tree thing."

Link fell onto something which seemed to be similar to a tree, but had a solid surface. Argott landed shortly after. There was another flower conveniently on the surface. Must be used by the scrubs who live there for hunting.

Link landed on a platform beside the waterfall. There was another platform on the other side, which led into Woodfall. Argott landed right before Link tried to burrow in the next flower. But before Link burrowed, he was interrupted.

"Hold on a sec, Link," said Tatl, "come take a look at this."

"What is it?"

"It's on the tip of my tongue. I can't remember what it is!"

It was some sort of statue that resembled an owl. It reminded Link of Kaepora Gaebora, from Hyrule. There was some sort of plaque on it, with notes.

"What is that thing? Do you know, Argott?"

"I've never seen anything like that before."

_Ye who hold the sacred sword, leave ye proof of encounter and soar to the skies._

"How odd."

Suddenly, Link could feel something in his arsenal…trembling, but he couldn't find out what it was. It began to intensify, and Link's whole Deku scrub body began to tremble as well.

"_Tatl, what's going on!"_

"Link! The statue is possessing you!" said Argott.

Link saw a strange vision of a large owl soaring in the abysmal skies of Termina. The amazing panorama stretched from the icy mountains to the humid swamp. Then, Link was on the owl's back, soaring like a sage.

_Let the wings spread, and take flight._

Suddenly, Link's little vision ended, and Link fell onto the ground before the plaque.

"_Link!" _said Argott and Tatl in unison.

Argott turned around and shielded his eyes, afraid of what on earth was going on. Was the world ending or something.

Link's body swelled up and gave off a brilliant light. Shortly afterwards, his Deku mask fell off of his face and onto the ground. He was normal again.

Link stood up as if he had just been knocked unconscious. His head hurt, so he rubbed it. Link ironically continued to tremble as if something traumatizing had just happened, but it was coming from one specific spot…

His sword.

Link's sword was vibrating. He drew it, and then it ceased shaking.

"Tatl…what is this?"

"I think the statue is trying to tell you something. It obviously involves your sword."

"It-it's moving toward it."

"Hit it."

"What?"

"Hit it. It's the only way."

"You want me to break my sword or something?"

"Just do it, Link!"

"Fine!"

Link struck the statue. To his relief, the sword was unharmed.

But then, a bright green light began to shine from the center of the statue. The light expanded into the air, and wings appeared on the statue in a brief flash of light.

"Wow," said Link.

Argott just continued hide in his deku shell. He had no idea what was going on!

"What's going on, Link?"

Link just realized he was not in his deku form anymore… and he didn't really want Argott to find out, since it would only traumatize and confuse him more. He thought it would just be a better idea to continue playing it safe.

"Hold on, Argott!"

"Okay!"

"Link, I can sense a sign from this mask…get out your ocarina," said Tatl.

Link pulled out the Ocarina of Time.

"I'm interpreting this. Play this song."

Tatl began to play her personal fairy harp. It was very small, but musical.

Link began to play in unison with Tatl. It was a subtly interesting melody, but not very enchanting.

_Your wings have spread, the sky awaits._

Link got a great euphoric feeling throughout his body. He knew this song would help him in his journey.

Link donned the deku mask again. But right that second, he spotted a large owl flying towards him. Was it… _Kaepora?!?! All the way from Hyrule? _

"Link, Link, Link!! I can see you've changed your look!" said Kaepora.

"Kaepora?! It is you!! How did you know I was here?"

"I fly all over the place. Hyrule isn't my home, you know."

"Even with me looking like this, you know who I am?!"

"Yup. Don't fret. I have my ways, Link."

"So… what are you doing here?"

"I've come to help. According to the Happy Mask Salesman, you've embarked on another quest to retrieve a powerful mask from a child."

"That's right!"

"You know who that child is… right?"

"The Skull Kid."

"Yes, but do you really know who that is?"

"…no."

"He used to live in Hyrule. He always played his flute on a tree stump in the Lost Woods. Don't you remember him?"

Link gasped. _It really was him. _

"What…what happened?"

"Truth be told: nobody knows. All we know is he ventured off through the woods and found that mask. Ever since then, he's been wreaking havoc on Termina."

"Oh… my."

"You don't know, Mr. Owl!" said Tatl, "he was so lonely! My brother and I spotted him one cold, rainy day in Termina field. We had to befriend him. We had a great time together… until he found that mask. We didn't want to turn against him, so… we joined him."

"Link, I wish you the best of luck on your journeys. I have placed several statues of me across Termina that you can use this song to soar to. I know you only have three days to get the job done, so you can't be wasting time running around Termina when you can go faster!"

"Thanks, Kaepora!"

"I'll see you again very soon."

Kaepora flew away. Just as he flew, Argott uncovered himself from his shell.

_"What was that all about?! What's going on, Link?! Who was that?!" _

"Argott, relax. Everything's going to be just fine."

"…if you say so."

"Come on, let's go to Woodfall."

Link and Argott jumped the gap before the waterfall, and walked into Woodfall.

Woodfall made the main sect of the swamp seem like paradise. It had a murky, gloomy atmosphere.

The water was sickening and purple, it was humid, it smelled terrible, and there were numerous exotic insects all over the place.

"Aah! I hate this place!" said Argott, "it gives me nightmares!"

"It is pretty gross."

Link saw two large tree branches sticking out of the water in the center.

"That must be the Woodfall Temple," said Link.

"Um, Link…" said Tatl.

"Yeah?"

"It's almost night. We have only one day left. I think you'll need more time to go through the Woodfall Temple."

"You're right."

"You can soar back here, though, and won't need to go through the swamp again."

"Yeah…"

"What is it, guys?" asked Argott.

_Down the chamber of life the traveler goes.  
a journey through time never traveled alone,  
in which the companions hitch the ride,  
of the traveler's trip, slowly to abide._

It echoed back and forth in Link's head...but he didn't know where it appeared. Tatl could go back in time with him. Could Argott? After all, he is the descendant of "Termina's Wake Up Caller".

"Argott, come here," said Link.

"What are you doing?"

"Don't worry. No one's getting hurt."

Link got out his pipes and began to play the Song of Time, while clutching Argott. All blacked out, and Link fell through the reign of time again, with Tatl and Argott.

And before they knew it… it was the dawn of the first day in South Clock Town.


	8. Into the Black

**Chapter 8 – Into the Black  
**

It was the dawn of day one in South Clock Town, just as Link, Tatl, and Argott had traveled back in time, from the eve of day two.

"Aaah! What just happened!" panicked Argott.

"Argott, I would tell you, but you wouldn't understand…" said Link.

"No! I must know! It was night just a second ago, and we were in Woodfall, now we're in…we're in…where are we?"

"We're in Clock Town."

"Right…and now we're in…Clock Town? Clock Town! We're in _Clock Town!"_

"Um…yeah…"

"Oh, I love Clock Town! I was only here for about 4 hours, but I loved it! That's why I got kicked out of the kingdom, though."

"Yeah, well I hate to spoil your fun, but we have to go back to Woodfall."

"What! But we just got here! Don't you want to go exploring?"

"We can later. We have priorities, you know."

"No, actually I don't know."

"Sorry, Argott. We gotta go. Come on."

Link grabbed Argott and quickly played the Song of Soaring, with Argott continuously panicking.

"_Argott, don't panic!"_

The voice saying that came from the "soaring sky". It wasn't Link, or Tatl. It was as if one of the goddesses was speaking to him.

Then within the next five seconds, Link, Tatl, and Argott were all back in the Southern Swamp.

"What was that, guys?"

"Nothing, let's go."

Link had a slight fear within himself when he re-entered Woodfall. The same feeling he got in the Forest Temple—_and _the Shadow Temple. There was something that those two previous temples had in common and was present in the Woodfall Temple…but what?

It had a similar appearance of the Forest Temple, and a similar notion of the Shadow Temple. He could feel the darkness inside.

There was Woodfall again, looking sick and dead as usual. Link donned his deku mask and began to head to the nearest lily pad.

"Come on, Argott."

Argott skipped onto the water and over to the lily pad…faster than Link. He seemed to be more experienced than Link was.

Then there was a platform, with some sort of escalating bridge up to the next one…not too hard, right?

Then there was a disgusting, humongous beetle on the bridge.

"Aaah! What is that thing!" said Argott.

"Don't worry, it's nothing."

Link powered up a bubble and let it go in the beetle's menacing face. It killed the beetle instantly. But then, Link saw a mean scrub at the next platform.

"Hey Argott."

"Yeah?"

"You can spit Deku Nuts, can't you?"

"O' course I can! I was taught to do that 4 years ago!"

"Well, what I want you to do is to fire one at that mean scrub up there."

"What? You want me to kill a fellow scrub?"

"He isn't a 'fellow' scrub! He's an evil scrub!"

"He is?"

"Yes!"

And then, the other scrub turned around, spotting Argott and Link.

"Now, Argott!"

Argott and the other scrub simultaneously let out a nut at each other. Unfortunately, they both collided in the air and destroyed each other.

"Argott, is that you?" asked the scrub.

"Yeah, who's that?"

"You don't remember me? I used to live in the palace; like 2 years ago. My name is Purk."

"Purk? I remember you! You used to be a guard!"

"That's me!" said Purk, as he got out of his flower.

Link was now confused. The scrub he was trying to kill supposedly did turn out to be a fellow scrub.

"So who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Link. He's not from the palace. We met in the swamp."

"Um…hello," said Link, hoping that Argott wouldn't tell that he was really human.

"Oh, hey there…so what brings you to Woodfall?"

"Tell him, Link."

"Um…I was sent on a mission. The Deku Princess is missing from the palace. They think a monkey named Knabb did it, but I'm pretty sure the Skull Kid hid her in the temple."

"Well, the temple has been dormant for generations. You can still see the tip of it," said Purk, pointing at the temple in the center.

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

"Um, I don't think you do. There's only one way to summon the temple. And it's confidential. I can't tell you how."

"I already know how."

"What? How, then?"

"The sonata…duh."

"What? You know about the sonata?"

"Yes…"

"Well, who told you?"

"A special friend. Now may we please go by?"

Then Purk spotted Tatl, fluttering above Link.

"Hey, you have a fairy?" he said, irrelevantly.

"Oh, why yes I do."

"I thought only forest people had fairies. None live in the swamp."

"Forest people _do _have fairies. My original master passed away, so he passed me onto Link," said Tatl, trying to make something up to avoid trouble.

Purk grew suspicious, but he decided he didn't need to worry on. He just called all of the other scrubs in Woodfall.

"Attention all scrubs! _Do not _open fire on the incoming scrubs!...or their fairy!"

"Wow, that's nice of him, isn't it?" said Link to Tatl.

"Just keep it down until we get into the Temple."

"Hey, can I use your flower, Purk?"

"Yeah, go right ahead."

Link blasted off from the flower, as Argott followed. Strangely enough, he could sense that Purk still had his eye on him. He just decided he needed to play it real safe, and not to take his mask off until he reached the temple.

He only had to deal with a few more flowers before he reached the platform up ahead. He could easily tell it was where he needed to go, because it stood out so much.

Link and Argott finally reached the platform. On it, there were four pots, a little deku shrine, and another _owl statue. _Link's first instinct was to strike it with his sword, but he couldn't get it out because he was still a scrub, and he couldn't take off the mask because Purk was watching.

"Don't worry about it now, Link," whispered Tatl.

Link stood upon the shrine, logically guessing that was where he had to play the Sonata of Awakening. So then, he whipped out the pipes and began to play the melody.

This time the notes echoed like no other. They repeatedly reverberated off of the walls of Woodfall. Each of the mean scrubs reacted to it in a different way.

Then came the best part. Link could see the temple rising in the center of Woodfall, creating a gigantic tidal wave. The huge wave splashed all over the walls and completely drenched the entire place, only making it look even deader.

Then there was the temple. The venomous waters cascaded off of the walls and back into the pond. Sooner than he expected, the temple was bone dry. The entrance lay directly across the water from the platform, just waiting to consume him.

Argott stared at the temple in amazement.

"Wha- How- wha- what just happened!"

"I just awakened the temple."

"_Oh my! What on earth did you just do?! How in the name of the Deku Deities did you do that!?" _yelled Purk from afar.

Link just waved.

"Ready, Link?"

"Yeah, I'm ready."

Link blasted off from the flower and flew over to the Woodfall Temple with Argott behind him. He landed right before the door for Argott before proceeding. As soon as Argott landed, they both walked into the dark and cold temple.

The first room wasn't very pleasant, just as they all expected. It was dark- very dark, and cold. It smelled of trees rotting in the mud of a cold, dirty swamp. It was most unpleasant, indeed.

"Auugh! This is just as bad as I expected it to be!" said Argott.

"Um…Link," Tatl butted in.

"What is it?"

"I can sense something in here…and it isn't good…"

"Uh-oh."

"It's very dark, but I can't tell exactly what it is."

Then Link could actually feel it, too. He heard it more than he felt it now. It sounded like something…_rustling. _

"It's getting closer, Link…" said Tatl, nervously.

"Aaah! Now I can hear it, too!" panicked Argott.

Link was full of trouble, as the menacing noise got louder and louder. It was worse than the Deku scrubs' crunches. He closed his eyes and covered his ears, just like he did before.

"_Stop it! Stop it!"_

Then the rustling finally came to a stop. The noise calmed down, but he could still feel it. On the other hand, it felt better…until Argott spoke up.

"L-L…L-Link…L-Look…" said Argott, terrifyingly.

Link slowly opened his eyes, and he saw something absolutely horrific. No, they weren't simple forest monsters. They were something worse. They had small sinister eyes that seemed to pierce Link's soul. They were little black shades of nothing, but they seemed to define darkness.

Link screamed. But that just made things worse. Right then, the little pests began to leap at Link.

"Aaaah! _Get these little hellish balls off of me!" _exclaimed Argott.

Link doffed his Deku mask and began _hacking _like no other at these terrible balls of emptiness. He hit one after another, and they seemed to be countless.

"_Die! Die, you fiends!"_

Then, they appeared to all be gone; disintegrated into the hellish darkness they arose from.

"Argott, are you okay?"

Argott lay on the ground, barely moving.

"Argott, say something!"

"L-Link…those things…I've seen them before."

"You have?"

"Yes…they- they're called Black Boes. If they grab hold of you, they will team up on you and suck the life out of you, and watch you crumble into dust. They- they killed my best friend from scrub training, Willkum."

"I'm sorry…are you all right?"

"They got hold of me. Thanks to you, they weren't able to completely consume me."

"Well, get up. We've got to get a move on!"

"I-I can't, Link."

"But you've _got _to! I can't just leave you here! It's dangerous, and what if more of them come out!"

Argott didn't respond.

"_Argott!"_

"Link, look!" said Tatl.

There was a pinkish fairy, who fluttered out from behind a pillar and over to Argott.

"Tatl, can you speak to that fairy?"

"I'll try!"

Tatl was speaking another language…some sort of fairy dialect.

"_Berr nautti likk mal ferr a keih?" asked Tatl._

"_O, vini quim hei," replied the fairy._

"What? What did you say, Tatl?"

"What do you think? I asked if she could help Argott, and she said yes!"

"You mean she can revive him?"

"Of course."

The other fairy fluttered above Argott, and sprinkled an enchanting dust on him. It awakened him immediately, but before Link could say anything the fairy was off.

But that made him wonder, why didn't Navi ever say _anything _about the fairy's dialect?

"Are you okay, Argott?"

"Yeah, I'm fine…what ju-- Link?"

"What?"

"You...what _happened _to you?"

"What do you mean 'what happened to-'"

It just dawned on Link that he had taken of his Deku mask for the first time after he had met Argott.

"Who are you, Link?!"

"Argott... listen to me..."

Argott, being the jittery scrub that he is, backed away from Link in shock and dismay.

"Are you... a deceiver?"

"No. Argott, that Deku form of mine... it was a... mask."

"What?! Oh, quit that! Everyone knows that masks can't make you morph into a different species! If it was possible, everyone would be wanting those masks!"

"What if I am the only person who has such a mask?"

"That's impossible! How could you get a mask like that! Just quit this! What did you do with the _real _Link?"

"I am the real Link, Argott! Look!"

Link pulled out the Deku mask from his arsenal and showed it to Argott.

"No... that is impossible!"

"Believe it."

Argott had a hard time grasping the concept. He could not believe that the one scrub who was willing to befriend him wasn't even a scrub after all. He was just some person expected to be from Clock Town.

"Okay, fine! I believe you! Now tell me what just happened!"

"Tatl got another fairy to revive you."

Argott gave a perplexed look.

"No time to explain. Let's go."

Link donned his deku mask again and got into the flower that was straight ahead and blasted off. He looked down, but it was far to dark to see the ground. He definitely did not want to go down there, though.

He landed on some sort of "natural" platform, made of grass. Argott landed behind him.

"Look, there's the door. Pretty soon we'll be out of this horrid room," said Link.

"Yeah, and I bet the next room is even worse," said Argott.

"Don't panic."

Link flew over to the platform where the door was. What he didn't expect was two large Skulltulas waiting for him. Those things always shot down from the ceiling and startled him. He hated them, so much.

Then they both fell. Since they were stupid enough, Link fired a bubble at the left one's weak spot, killing it. Then, he turned to the right one, and began to blow up a bubble—but then a deku nut fell on it and killed it. Then Argott landed.

"Argott, was that you?"

"Yep. I'm not bad with airborne fire."

"Cool. Let's go."

Then Link and Argott ran through the door. The next room was most unpleasant.

"Ack! This room smells _terrible! _What is that smell?" said Tatl.

"I don't know. Must be the water…" said Link.

Link and Argott held their noses.

Then Link saw something odd in the center of the room. It was some weird looking platform-like flower. It looked just like a flower, and there was an unlit torch in the middle.

"Hey, Tatl. Look."

"I wonder what that is…"

Then Link got an unexpected vision. He though Gabourri was sending it to him.

_A Deku Scrub warrior with a lit Deku Stick flew in from another platform and down into the center of the flower, lighting the torch. Then, the "flower" spread its petals out and began to revolve in a counter-clockwise rotation. The poisonous water purified the room was cleaned. The fire of the flower changed it all.  
_

"That's what we've got to do! We've got to light the torch!"

"But how?" asked Argott.

"Hmm…well I sure wish I still had my Fire Arrows from Hyrule…"

"We'll find a way. Let's just go into the first room."

There was a little walkway down to the left leading into some random room. Link walked down it, but with caution.

"Um, you guys? Are you sure this is safe?" asked Argott.

"We're never sure if anything is safe. That's what we do. We take risks and hope we don't get killed. So far, so good," said Link.

Argott got nervous.

Then they entered the room. It wasn't much different from the previous room. Link took off his Deku mask.

_The poison pierces your body  
The darkness pierces your soul  
The fire conflagrates your all_

"Fire? There's fire in here?"

"What gave you that idea?"

"I can…I can sense it."

"_Hello!" _yelled Link.

"Are you stupid, Link? Why did you do that!?"

"Shh!"

He thought the echo would have some effect. But an effect on what?

Then the all heard something coming from the upper lofted floor.

"Link, what is that?"

"Just stay quiet…"

Then it came. They weren't exactly sure what it was…they just knew that it wasn't good.

Then, a shadowy, ghoulish figure swooped down, and went through Link and out the door. The dark impact of the unknown shadow made Link fly against the wall.

"_Link!"_

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

"Why did you do that, Link?"

"I was told to."

"What! By who!"

"A voice."

"Don't listen to those voices! Whatever they are, they're trying to hurt you!"

"It's okay. I knew that was going to happen."

"Well what was it?"

"I don't know, but I could sense it."

"Guy's, I'm a little scared. Can we just leave?" asked Argott.

"Argott, I know you're scared, but now isn't the time to bail."

"I don't have a good feeling about this."

"Neither do I."

Link began to walk forward, on a little bridge over the water. There was a block in the middle. Link walked up to it, as if going to push it out of the way.

He began to push it forward.

_Feel the heat…_

He kept pushing.

_Of the flame…_

He pushed it over to the other side, so that he could then move freely across the intersecting bridges.

_It will be the one light_

"Hey, Argott, come across!"

_That will guide you in the dark._

For some reason, those two sentences continued to bother Link.

"Link, look! Up on the loft!"

There was a torch there. But it didn't seem just like a normal torch. It felt hotter than any other flames.

"I'm gonna go get a bit of it…"

"I don't know, Link…it looks somewhat…menacing."

Link seemed hypnotized by the fire. Maybe it was because he had seen nothing but darkness for the past few hours, and finally saw an eminent light. Link pulled out a Deku Stick and got a bit of the fire.

It wasn't good.

Rabid moths suddenly came from the fire and hurt Link.

"Aaah! I _hate _bugs!"

"Link!" said Argott.

Then Link threw his Deku stick in the water, as the moths followed the flame.

What was it about the flame? Did it attract certain things to it? After the stick landed in the water, the moths flew back up to the torch.

Then Link saw a way to another room, but it was sealed off by spider web.

"I'll just grab a stick and throw it."

"No, that's too risky. Just jump over and light it, and then throw the stick away."

"Right. Okay."

Link got a stick out and got some fire, jumped to the other side, burnt the web, and threw the stick away.

"I have a feeling that was just a bit too simple," said Link.

"Don't worry about it. Just keep going."

Argott jumped across and ran with Link through the corridor.

_Feel the heat  
Of the flame.  
It will be the one light  
That will guide you in the dark._

He began to hear the voice again. But contrary to what he expected, the voice wasn't trying to menace him. It was trying to help him. Was it the legendary Gabourri?

The next corridor wasn't any better than the rest of the temple. It just continued to get darker, and darker.

"Tatl, I can't see!"

"Well, what did you do with that stick?"

"I threw it somewhere!"

"Well, you should probably get out a new one. Who knows what sick creatures could be hiding in here?"

Link ran back to the beginning of the corridor and whipped out a fresh Deku Stick and lit it on the torch, and then he ran back into the corridor.

"Much better," said Link.

Really, it didn't get much better. The walls were covered with Deku leaves and several bloodstains. The light just made the experience more grueling.

_Hey there…_

"What?" said Link.

_You'd better watch your step._

"Link, who are you talking to?" asked Tatl.

Without even answering, Link looked down and saw a small, black, ball-like creature with sinister red eyes and a smoke-like substance around it. It was just staring at Link.

"Uh… T-Tatl… what is _that_?"

Link lifted up his torch.

"Those… those _things._"

"Shine your light on them again.

Link shone his light on the creatures, but this time there wasn't only one, but five or six more had come.

Link was startled and screamed.

Then all of the creatures suddenly lunged at Link.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!"

Link swung and hacked his sword at the creatures until each one of them disseminated. Then, his Deku stick burned out.

"Oh, this is just great!" said Link.

_See the light._

_Follow the flame._

_For it is your guide through the dark,_

_And sometimes your only hope._

The voice was back again. Link didn't even think, and just began to run forward through the corridor. It began to get colder and it began to smell worse. He heard the rustling of the malevolent black creatures.

"Link!" said Tatl.

"Yeah?"

"Where did Argott go?"

"What do you mean—wait, where _did _he go?"

"_Argott!"_

"Yeah? I'm up here!" Argott yelled from ahead.

"He's all the way up there? How did he get past those sick black creatures?"

"Oh, those _Black Boes _are attracted to flesh and blood. Since Argott is a _tree, _they don't notice him."

"Oh… the more I know… _Hey, Argott! Is there a way we can get a little light in here?"_

"_Just give me a second!"_

About four seconds later a torch lit up ahead.

"Come towards the flame!" yelled Argott.

Link just walked towards the fire.

"Gah! That was terrible!"

"Uh… Link… I sense something in here, and it—it isn't good," said Tatl.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about those little th-"

Right that second seven Black Boes lunged at Link and covered his body. Link screamed in Agony.

"_I…I can't get to my SWORD!"_

"_Link! Put on your Deku Mask! Now!" _yelled Argott.

The Deku mask was on his right-hand side hanging. Link managed to grab it and put it on his face. He felt his body morphing into a Deku scrub… again.

And then the Boes looked around for a few seconds, wondering what had just happened, and then disappeared into the black.

"That… could have been real ugly," said Link.

"Yeah, just keep it on for now, and let's go into the next room," said Argott.

"Wait a second," said Tatl, "What's _that?_"

Link looked in the direction Tatl was leaning towards. There was something on the ground right in front of the torch. Link tried to squint and see what it was.

"Is that..."

Then Link recognized it. It was just like old times in Hyrule. It was a new bow. Not like the one from the Forest Temple, but a different one. It seemed to have a Terminian taste to it.

"Tatl! A bow and a quiver of 30 arrows!"

"It's about time we found something useful in this disgusting dungeon!"

Unknown to Link, the bow had been left in the temple by the scrubs. It was used by Argott the first, the warrior who slayed Odolwa; it was commonly referred to as "Argott's Bow." The legacy of the bow had been passed down for two centuries, and was now being utilized by another epic hero...

"We haven't any time to waste! Let's go into the next room."

Link looked down at his watch. It was about noon of the second day. He was halfway through his timespan.

Link and Argott walked into the next room of the Woodfall Temple. It wasn't really what he was expecting.

This room was a lot brighter. He could actually see. It was a room with very shallow water and little grassy islands with deku flowers on them. Then he looked across the room and saw a large, orange and green frog hopping around.

"Tatl, who is that?"

Tatl did not respond, but that second, the frog spotted Link and Argott and got a furious look on his face.

"Uh… Link, get out your sword," said Argott.

Link took off the Deku Mask and whipped out the sword, but he could not act fast enough.

This was no happy frog. Apparently, this was a rabid frog from the eastern sect of the swamp. He seemed disgruntled and vengeful. Not to mention, evil. The amphibian spotted Link and Argott and was startled, but overcame his shock by rapidly hopping over to Argott and snagging him before Link could react.

"_AAAAHHH! THE FROG GOT ME!"_

Link tried to run over and slash him with his sword, but the frog was too fast. The frog ran over to a large hole in the ground and tossed Argott down the hole.

"_ARGOTT!" _screamed Link.

He was gone.

"_AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"_

"_Tatl, where does that hole lead?"_

"I don't know for sure! I would assume to Odolwa's lair!"

_The way through the dark  
Is the way to the end.  
The opening to nothing  
Is the portal to everything._

The voice was back. Was it Gabourri again?

No time to think. The frog was back and didn't look all that happy. Things didn't get any better. One of the spike-spinning tortoises from the Woods of Mystery came out of nowhere. The malevolent frog hopped atop the tortoise and gave off a loud shriek. The tortoise hid inside its shell and released the spikes and began spinning.

Link began to panic as the tortoise hurdled towards him. It hit him and sent him flying.

Link screamed in agony.

_Hey you,  
sometimes your original form  
isn't your best._

Those were words of wisdom. His only other form was the Deku Scrub form. He donned the Deku mask and made a straight run for a flower.

He burrowed into the flower until the frog had lost him.

_Catch him by surprise.  
Hit his one place  
that has no defense. _

The stomach. Hit the stomach. The place uncovered by a hard shell. This voice was really helping Link now.

Link did just that. Just as the spinning turtle was above his flower, he leapt up and sent the turtle into a flying tailspin, landing on his back. As he did that, the frog went over to the wall and began to climb all over it for some reason.

"Your arrows! Shoot him with your arrows!" said Tatl.

Link pulled out the bow and hit the frog square in the black.

The frog shrieked and then hopped down onto the ground and back onto the turtle. The turtle began to spin again and hurdle towards Link.

"Oh, great!"

Link put on the Deku mask, but was too late. He was sent flying again.

"Link, are you all right?"

Link wasn't doing too well, he was badly injured.

"Just hide in a flower again!"

Link managed to make it to the closest flower and burrowed in it. But .7934 seconds later the tortoise was above him again.

Link used his quick reflexes to nail the turtle again.

The frog did his same old thing again, and Link nailed him with another arrow. But the frog was just getting more and more mad.

"_I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" _screamed Link harshly.

Link sprinted over to the frog and hacked at him with his sword. He got one good hit, but the frog yelled something at the turtle, to go over at attack Link.

Link dodged the swift reptile, and shot another arrow at the frog.

"_WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY FRIEND?!"_

The frog did not respond and just got back on the turtle and went into his spinning rampage again.

Link hopped out of the way and _nailed _the frog in the head with an arrow.

The frog gave off one final shriek and then shriveled up and fell into the puddles of water. The turtle shrunk up into its shell and disintegrated.

Link was exhausted. He was breathing deeply. Everything had gotten quiet, and a new door had opened.

"Is he gone?" asked Link.

"I think so…"

"What… what was that all _about?_"

"I don't know… he must have just been a natural enemy who lurked in Woodfall."

Link ran over to the hole Argott had fallen through. He bent down on his knees and looked down.

"_ARGOTT!"_

No answer.

"_CAN YOU HEAR ME?"_

Silence.

Link pulled out an arrow from his quiver and dropped it, hoping to hear a sound, but after he dropped it, it disappeared into the black and made no sound at all.

Link began to worry even more. He had no idea where that hole may have led, or if it led anywhere, and was not willing to take a chance by jumping down it.

"Link, there's nothing we can do now except go into the next room."

"I guess you're right."

Link walked out of the room through the recently opened door. He was back in the big, disgusting room with the flower in the middle. He was on a lone platform where he could not reach before. There was a very short, lit torch in front of him surrounded by moths.

"What do I do now, Tatl?"

"Link, don't you get it? There's a _short _torch in front of you and that weird, unlit one behind it. You obviously need to light the central torch in the room."

"How?"

"I thought you had done stuff like this before!"

It was so obvious. It was as if the temple was asking him to light the central torch. All he had to do was shoot an arrow through the torch, aimed at the center.

"I know what you're thinking, Link… do it!"

Link pulled out an arrow from his quiver and shot it through the flame and to the central torch. It immediately became engulfed in fire.

The platform it was on expanded into a flower-like structure and began to spin in a counter-clockwise direction. Then it rose up to Link's level, conveniently there for him to jump on and go to other parts of the temple he could not reach before.

"Link, look at the water!"

Link looked down on what used to be venom water. Now the water looked as pure as the water from Zora's Domain in Hyrule. The disgusting stench had faded away as well.

_The flame will be your one companion,  
It will pierce the darkness,  
Eliminate the cold,  
and brighten up a new way.  
_

Link hopped onto the flower and rode it to the nearest platform on the right-hand side. He jumped off and walked through the door.

Now, this was a different room. He was on a lone ledge in a room with a bottomless pit. If you fell, you were done for. It reminded him of the final room of the Shadow Temple, just before Bongo Bongo's lair, except the platforms weren't invisible. There was a large summit of rock in the middle of the room, only accessible via _flying. _

Link looked down into the black.

_You'd better watch where you're going  
You never know where these pits could take you,_  
… _or if they would even take you anywhere at all…_

Link donned the Deku Mask and flew out of the flower and onto the main platform. But right as the landed a rabid lizard with _two knives _fell from the ceiling. Link thought fast and took off the mask, as he began to hack and swing at the lizard.

He got to good hits, but so did the lizard. It slashed Link in his ribcage, sending him flying nearly off the platform.

"_AAAAHHHH!"_

"Link, your arrows! Use your arrows!"

Link pulled out his bow and shot two arrows at the lizard's head. Right then the lizard lost its strength and fell off the edge.

Link looked over the ledge as the monster fell deep into the black He then sat back down on the platform and took several deep breaths.

"Tatl, this is harder than I thought it was going to be."

"You can't just give in, Link. Keep going."

Link stood up and burrowed in the next flower.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Deku Palace, the situation had gotten worse. The Deku monarchy was getting restless.

"Knabb! I'm not going to do this much longer, now tell me where the Deku Princess is!"

Knabb was tied to a wooden post above a small fire in the central pit of the palace. The scrubs were ready to roast him, even though they were vegetarians, and would not eat him.

"I don't know, sir! I promise you I did not kidnap her!"

One of the Deku warriors whipped Link with a Deku vine furiously.

"Take that, you little scoundrel! That oughta teach you not to mess with the Deku Royal Family again!"

Knabb screamed in excruciating pain.

"Knabb, if the Deku Princess is not here by _tomorrow night, _we will feed you to the Woodfall Wolfos!"

The Woodfall Wolfos were the meanest ones known to Termina. Even meaner than the snow wolves. They never stop attacking, and they give absolutely no mercy to their victims.

Knabb began to have a nervous breakdown, and hoped to all that is holy that somehow, the Deku Princess would be able to escape the Woodfall Temple.

The Deku Princess herself thought about the palace every minute. She knew how worked up her father could get, and knew that he had surely done something drastic not even an hour following her disappearance. Sadly, she could not do anything about it. She was stuck in the temple...

Only Link could save her, Knabb, Woodfall, and the giant imprisoned within the temple.


	9. Woodfall's Secrets

**Chapter 10 – Woodfall's Secrets**

_SWAMP…_

_MOUNTAINS…_

_OCEAN…_

_CANYON…_

_The four who are there… bring the here!_

_The Skull Kid unleashed another malicious shriek. Link looked up and just watched the moon hurtle closer to the Earth._

"_Tatl!"_

"…_W-what, Link?"_

"_What is Tael talking about!"_

"_I…I have no idea."_

"_Just try and stop it! I dare you to try and stop it!" yelled the Skull Kid._

_Link stiffened._

_I've failed…I successfully save Hyrule and then I get dragged into this. I've failed as a hero. Termina is doomed._

_And it's my entire fault._

"_Sis! Call the four of every direction! Hurry! Time is running out!"_

_The Skull Kid swatted Tael down to the ground._

"_Stupid, useless fairy! I always knew you were no good!"_

"_We… We NEED MORE TIME!" screamed Tatl._

"_Goddess of Time, where are you? Someone who can get us out of this, please help! Zelda, help us! SIX SAGES, HELP US!"_

_No response. The moon continued to fall, as Link fell to the ground._

"LINK! WAKE UP! GET UP! THERE'S NO TIME TO BE WASTING!"

Link opened his eyes. He was still in the Woodfall Temple. He had never been so happy to be in dark, forest dungeon. But why is he continuously tormented by these dreams? Why would someone do such a thing to him? Are they trying to teach a lesson?

"Link, you fainted after you landed on the platform. I don't know what happened."

Link couldn't remember anything.

_You really should not be wasting time. You only have 20 hours left._

_Free the one imprisoned within Woodfall's Realm. He's stuck in there.  
_

Link could only wish he knew what the voice was talking about. Link quickly ran into the next room. And then, everything stopped in a heartbeat.

There was a petrified Deku Scrub in front of him; meaning a Deku Scrub who used to be living, but had been cursed into a wooden statue. A tree.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!!! This is the same thing I saw in that... _abyss... _before I actually entered Termina... don't you remember, Tatl?"

"Yes, just after the Skull Kid left us. I do remember."

"What... is it?"

"It's a scrub that's been petrified. I wonder what could have caused it... It could have been the Skull Kid for all we know. Once scrubs are petrified, they are stuck as trees forever. It's very sad. You can even see the lifelessness in their eyes."

Link could easily tell that this scrub was not Argott. It was one he had never seen before.

"According to the way the wood feels, this scrub has been in a vegetative state for at least four years."

"Are they really stuck like that _forever?_"

"That's what I've been told."

Link suddenly got the notion to pull out his ocarina. He did exactly what his instinct told him to do. Link played the melodic Song of Healing, hoping it would expel the curse. It was supposed to do that... right??

He could hear the notes echoing throughout the room and reverberating off the walls in a euphoric melody. He could feel the beautiful song purifying and cleansing him, just as it did when he was a little scrub. Now, it was time for the same to happen to the petrified scrub... but...

It didn't work. This was one of the few instances in which the Song of Healing was ineffective. The curse is irreversible.

"How sad," said Tatl.

Unfortunately, it got worse. The scrub's wood began to crack and then turned to dust and fell off the ledge. It was as if the Song of Healing did the opposite of what it was intended to do. It was as if it had been rigged.

_You really should not play with things like that. What you expect to happen won't always happen. It can even make things worse._

Suddenly the platform Link was standing on collapsed, and Link plummeted into the water beneath him. He should have learned in the Shadow Temple that he should never toy with the dead.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Now Link knew he was in trouble. There were three Venus Flytrap-like plants "open mouthed" on the surface of the water. They were obviously and evidently dangerous.

"Don't touch those, Link. They will close their mouths on you instantly."

Link spotted a little ledge on the other side of the room. His only option was just to swim over to it. Luckily, the water wasn't venomous. If it was, Link would be done for. Upon climbing onto the ledge, Link saw a large door sitting directly before him. It was inviting him to enter it. He could only hope that it wasn't a dead end.

"I guess our only option is to go in," said Tatl.

Link ran in and drew his sword, expecting several enemies to be patiently waiting to ambush him. He always knew what to expect and when to expect it.

But he was wrong.

There wasn't a single enemy in the room. Instead there was a rather large tombstone with the face of a Deku Scrub on top. The tomb was surrounded by a puddle. It looked as if the room was some sort of shrine for the Deku Scrubs, until it was taken over by Odolwa...

"No… it _can't _be…" said Tatl.

Link began to try to read the inscription on the stone. It was written in some strange language.

"Tatl, what language is that??"

"It's scrub language, an ancient dialect that actually originated here in Woodfall. And yes, I'll translate it for you..."

_**HERE LIES:**_

**Argott, the faithful Deku Scrub warrior who sounded the legendary Pipes of Salvation at the dawn of the day after Majora's defeat.**

"It's… ARGOTT!" said Tatl.

"No, no, no," said Link, "don't you remember? Every son in Argott's family has the same name. _This _Argott in the tomb is the one ancestor who played the Deku pipes when Gabourri defeated Majora some time ago."

"Oh."

"Let's keep reading."

**On the eve Terminians gave up all hope and accepted their fate, Gabourri changed history when he defeated Majora once and for all, and saved the land of Termina from destruction. At the dawn of the new day, Argott sounded his legendary Deku pipes as a symbol of Termina's renewal and salvation from evil. Argott is and has always been known as the "protector of the Deku people" for his victory over the evil warrior who dwelt within the Woodfall Temple, Odolwa, and will always be remembered as the greatest scrub who ever lived.**

**By request of Argott's immediate family, Argott has been buried in his former home, the Woodfall Temple.**

"So the scrubs used to inhabit this temple?" asked Tatl.

"Apparently so, until the Skull Kid came in to cause trouble."

"Wait, wait, wait a second. I thought Majora was never 'defeated'; only Majora's Mask was banished to the gap between dimensions, and ever since then, Majora has never made reappearance."

"You're partly right. Gabourri was the one who held the power to open the gap between dimensions and cast the mask into eternal darkness. Ever since then, Majora never reappeared, so Gabourri is now known as Termina's hero. After he banished the mask, Majora's threat was no longer prevalent, and the land was safe. No one knows for sure what happened to Majora, but now it seems as if he's made his reappearance through the Skull Kid… but anyway that was when Argott played the Deku pipes and that is what he is known for."

"I see. You know a lot, Link."

"Yeah, but the more I think about it, the more I realize this one thing: It's all Ganondorf's fault. Back in Hyrule, everything was going great until I opened the Door of Time. After that Ganondorf was able to access the Sacred Realm and gain possession of the Triforce of Power. That is when Majora's Mask came back into existence. With the Triforce of Power, one can do _virtually anything._ Ganondorf's evil works opened the seal and screwed up both Hyrule and Termina. Luckily, we were able to stop him from taking over Hyrule, but now I apparently have a second mission…"

"Don't get discouraged, Link."

"I'm not, I just—"

_Hey…_

"…what?"

_Stop it. You're wasting time. You've already dug yourself into a deep hole, and you have to get out._

"Well, I don't know how. This entire room is sealed off."

_That just goes to show what you know, young warrior._

"Tatl, is there any way out of this room? The door has been locked."

"I'm looking."

"Any clues present? This is the way I did it back in Hyrule."

"Look, there's another inscription, on the wall!"

Behind the tombstone there was, in fact an inscription. This time it wasn't in scrub... but in... Hylian?

_Water  
the essence of life  
cleanses, purifies, replenishes, revitalizes._

_Water  
the great preserver.  
ye who hold thy sacred melody,  
let thy eternal cascades pour upon thy tomb._

"Interpretation?" asked Link.

"According to this, this entire room is to be filled with water. According to Deku tradition, major icons in Deku scrub history have been buried in the presence of water. Water is reminiscent of a Deku's life, just as it keeps everything else in the world alive, and is essential for scrubs to grow."

"Okay, but what song? It says to who has the sacred melody, let the water fill the room."

"That's what puzzles me. I don't know what song it's referring to."

Link had no idea either. So far, the only songs he knew from Termina were the Song of Healing and the Song of Soaring. He knew the Song of Soaring would not work. He hadn't even legitimately give that song a fair shot yet.

So, he played the Song of Healing.

As expected, nothing happened.

"Hmm… Tatl... did you recognize that language there?"

"Yes, I did. I'm actually not sure on which language it is, though, but I could still read it. It looked very similar to... Pequilian... you know of that land, don't you? Pequilia? I think it's far west of Hyrule."

"No, but let's stay on task."

Link looked around the room for more clues, but was left clueless.

"Hey, what's that?" asked Tatl, "on the back of the tombstone?"

Link looked on the back of the stone, and to his astonishment, was a small Triforce engraved in the center. A... _Triforce._

"What? How is that possible?"

"Did you read the entire inscription?" asked Tatl.

Link looked at the bottom of the front of the tombstone.

**ARGOTT**

**BORN in the Sacred Forest Meadow of Hyrule into the Deku Aristocracy of Hyrule.**

**DIED in the Southern Swamp of Termina as the Deku King.**

**Deep within the Lost Woods of Hyrule during the Month of the Kokiri several generations ago, The Royal Deku Aristocracy of Hyrule fled the land due to invasion of the Forest Moblins. As the Hyrulean Monarchy tried to extinguish the threats, the scrubs could take no more, and relocated to Termina, the land beyond the Lost Woods. The Deku Aristocracy established what is now the Deku Kingdom of Woodfall. Argott is the first son of the Deku Royal Family, whos roots trace back to the Hyrulean Times.**

**Argott was trained in Woodfall as a Scrub Soldier. One fateful day, the evil Majora awakened the dormant monster inside the Woodfall Temple, causing all of the scrubs living inside to evacuate. Argott, the brave warrior, defeated Odolwa, and freed Woodfall from such threats to ever prevail again.  
**

"Wow, even I had no idea they were affiliated with Zelda's family. Apparently many connections between Hyrule and Termina exist."

"You learn something new every day."

"Well, that's it. I need to play Zelda's Lullaby, just like I did in the Water Temple. That is the one melody besides the Song of Time I really remember."

Link pulled out his ocarina and began to play the beautiful melody. As he played countless memories of Zelda came rushing back to him, but he had no time to reminisce. He had a job to do But right then the room flooded immensely, and carried Link and Tatl to the next floor. Now, Argott's tomb was completely submerged, just as the Deku scrubs intended.

The next hallway was dark, again.

"Are those stupid Black Boes in this corridor too?"

"I don't know. Is there any way you can light up this room?"

"No, I gave up my fire and light arrow before I left Hyrule."

"Well, all we can do now is just go forward."

Link slowly crept through the hallway.

_Hey._

"Ah! What now!"

_You just give up too soon, don't you?_

"What's that supposed to mean?"

_The Hero of Time thinks he doesn't even have the means to even produce a small flash to illuminate the room, even for a split-second._

"Who are you talking to?" asked Tatl, "you keep doing that."

"Some voice keeps speaking to me. I don't know who it is. He sometimes taunts me, but most of the time he helps me."

"Oh…o-kay."

"He's telling me I _do _have means of lighting up the hallway."

_The stunning fruit_

"What? What stunning fruit?"

The voice did not respond.

"…Deku nuts! That's it! Deku nuts!"

Link put on his Deku mask for good luck and pulled out a batch of Deku nuts from his arsenal.

Right then he chucked a nut on the ground in front of him. It created a brilliant flash of light. Link never knew how effective those could be in the dark.

There was a little switch a few feet on the ground before him. Link ran up to the switch and stood on it.

Six torches lit up all around him, illuminating the room. But these flames were abnormal. Each flame was _green._

"Tatl, is that supposed to mean something?"

"Good question."

"Is there anything else in here? Any enemies? Any items? Anything important?

There were no chests, no enemies, no anything. Except something Link never expected to see. Something else.

Some_one _else. Standing by the door. Someone Link had seen before.

"Who is that?" asked Tatl, "what is she doing here?"

Green hair, small green tunic..._ It was Saria!_

"Saria!"

"Yes, Link. It's me."

"Saria, what are you doing here?"

"I'm a sage, Link. I travel through these sacred temples. They don't have to be in Hyrule. I don't think you knew this but the Forest Temple and the Woodfall Temple were constructed by the same people. So they have a sacred connection and are directly accessible through the Chamber of the Sages."

"This is coming as quite a shock to me."

"Yes. And by now I know you're aware that one of the four Giants of Termina is locked up in Woodfall Realm. You're the only one who can free him, Link."

"A _giant?_"

"Yes. The Skull Kid did away with all four giants when he found Majora's Mask. One is in the north, one is in the south, one is in the east, and one is in the west. You must free all four in order to save Termina."

Link was quite shocked.

"But… how?"

"Link, time is no factor for you. You have conquered the concept of time. With that sacred ocarina, you have the power to go back and forward through time. That is the most important tool you have to save Termina."

"I know. I've heard this."

"Yes, but there are some things you need to know, Link."

"Like what?"

"Deep within this temple lurks a _masked jungle warrior named Odolwa._ He is commonly known as _the Deku Srubs' worst enemy._"

"Has he always been in this temple?"

"He was defeated many years ago by Argott, and ever since then Woodfall has been at peace, but now that the Skull Kid has taken over and revived Majora, he has also revived Odolwa. The whole swamp won't be at peace until Odolwa is defeated and the first giant is released."

"Oh. Is he similar to any enemies I've fought in Hyrule?"

"Yes and no. Arrows are his weakness. What you need to do is stun him with an arrow and then attack him with your sword."

"That doesn't sound too hard."

"That's not all. Odolwa is commonly known for his _mothcall. _The mothcall is a hideous shriek that summons the rabid Woodfall moths. These things will hurt you. But, if you throw a bomb flower they will flock toward that and be eliminated."

"That won't me a problem."

"Just watch out for his blade, Link. Odolwa is very swift and can strike when you least expect it, and can really make you go flying. He also has the power to summon a ring of fire around you. Whenever he does that, try and strike him with an arrow. When you do that, it will disorient him and the fire will dissipate."

"Thanks, Saria. I feel confident that I can defeat him. I mean, come on, I defeated Ganondorf."

"Don't get to arrogant, Link," Saria said jokingly.

Link just laughed.

"Now, I must return to Kokiri Forest. If you ever need to speak to me, just play my song. You remember it."

Link nodded.

Saria then vanished in the her "sage-like" fashion. The door behind her then opened.

"How fancy..." thought Tatl. "Let's go. Odolwa's lair isn't very far from here."

Link ran into the next room. On the other side was a large golden hook with a key hanging from it.

The Boss Key. It had been placed there by the scrubs and was not meant to be removed, since Odolwa's lair formerly was the main Woodfall headquarters. They only locked it in the case of emergency... unless, of course, they were unable to get to it in time...

Link donned his Deku mask and flew over to the platform, and obtained the key. Then, he noticed yet another platform just waiting for him to fly over to it. It was not the boss's door, but he knew he was headed in the right direction.

Link borrowed into the brittle Deku flower and flew over to the other side, hoping that whatever lay before him would be somewhat passable

"Tatl, what _do _you know about Odolwa? Is he as terrifying as I hear he is?"

"I would not call him terrifying, but from what I have heard, he is a true elite warrior of the jungle. But he should be no match for you, Link!"

"Yeah. That's just so easy for you to say, though."

"Well, from what I hear, you did beat Ganon in Hyrule!"

"Sure I did, but this is just weird. I feel the same way I did before I fought my first adversary. It was the most terrifying creature I have ever seen. It was a huge, disgusting arachnid with a huge green eye. It was awful. Luckily, she had a weak spot that was vulnerable to slingshot seeds. That's how I defeated her."

"Well, I know you can find a way to beat Odolwa!"

"Let's hope so."

Link opened the door and proceeded through, and he could only begin to fathom what his next battle would be like. He had no idea what to expect. It was also rather ironic how he was so nervous, considering how much he had achieved in Hyrule. However, he had to fight, and despite his nervousness, he still had confidence.

_As the end draws near  
deplete thy heart of all fear  
The call of the jungle is not a friendly one  
But with strength thy hero will fight until the day is done._

_Light the way to the end.  
Let the flame be your guide.  
Through the dark corridors  
shall the hero of time ascend._

_Fear ye not, for time shall mend  
thy scars from thy wicked warrior.  
And the hero shall prevail._

**_The jungle awaits…_**


	10. The Jungle Calling

**Chapter 11 – The Jungle Calling**

As Link walked into the next room, chills ran down his spine. It reminded him of the time back in Hyrule when he walked into the circular exhibit inside the Forest Temple just before he fought Phantom Ganon.

As a matter of fact, the atmosphere of the room was almost _identical _to that of Phantom Ganon's Lair.

The silence was piercing.

"Tatl, does this room make you feel weird at all?"

"Yeah… I can sense something in here. It's way too quiet."

This was by far the creepiest room of the entire Woodfall Temple. It was a circular room full of swamp water, with a cobblestone walkway through the middle. There were no enemies, no fish, and no plants in the room.

Not even a torch.

This room was different. Link looked forward and above the door before him. Something had been carved into the wall.

It was a strange inscription of a face, with featherlike objects stemming out from the forehead and cheeks. It looked somewhat like…

…a mask.

Link wanted to get out of the room as soon as possible, but unfortunately the door ahead of him was locked, with bars.

_Looks like you're stuck in here._

_Better find some way out._

"How do I get through there, Tatl?"

"I don't know. Look around and see if you can find anything."

Link looked around for a few minutes, and saw nothing of interest.

"Tatl, I can't find anything," said Link, with a more nervous tone.

"Try jumping in the water."

Link was very reluctant to jump in the murky water. He just had the gut feeling that something bad would happen the second he hit the surface.

But he did anyway…

Link leapt into the water, expecting for something to attack him immediately.

But nothing happened.

Silence was the only sound Link could hear as he looked around the room and underwater for something.

"Well, I guess we have to go ba-."

Before Tatl could finish her sentence, a loud rumbling noise echoed throughout the room.

"AAAHHHHH! What happened? I didn't even trigger a switch!"

But he was wrong. The builders of the Woodfall Temple had placed quite a clever mechanism in the room.

The ground underneath the water began to rise and the water began to drain.

"Tatl, what's going on?"

"I know what's going on. The Skull Kid used to use these mechanisms as traps in the Lost Woods whenever someone intruded. The water is heat-sensitive, and whenever the temperature rises, even at the slightest bit, it triggers a switch. In this case, it triggers the platform to rise."

By the time Tatl was finished talking, the platforms stopped moving and the water had completely drained.

At that second something fell from the ceiling.

It was… a _cage! _The cage was made out of tough Deku wood and vines from the Southern Swamp.

Inside the cage was a whimpering Deku Scrub.

It was Argott!

"Argott!!! You're alive!"

"Link? You made it here? Oh, thank goodness! I thought you were done for!"

"What happened to you?"

"I…I don't remember! I fell through the hole, and then I end up in this stupid cage!"

"Well, how do I get you out?"

"There's a lock. Do you have any keys?"

"Yeah, but this one just leads to the boss room--."

Link stopped when he saw the lock. It was a yellow lock with devilish horns… just like the Boss Key lock he was familiar with.

"Okay, I _do _have the key."

"Oh, joy! Now I can go home and tell the Deku kingdom that everything's gonna be all right and-."

A millisecond before Link put the key in the lock, a vine fell down from the ceiling and latched onto the cage.

"Hey, what's going on?!" yelled Argott.

The vine snatched the cage and jerked it back up to the pitch black ceiling. Link dropped the key.

Link picked it up and looked up to the ceiling.

"_Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnkkkk!!!!"_

Argott's voice faded until Link could hear it no more.

"Oh no!! Tatl, what in Din's name is going on?!?!"

Before Tatl could answer, the room got slightly darker and then Link could hear the sound of a tambourine and bongo drums.

"_Bongo Bongo?!"_

This instance was extremely reminiscent of the Shadow Temple boss, but different in a way.

"_It's him," _said Tatl.

"Odolwa?"

Then, Link heard a monstrous battle cry coming from above.

"Link… get out of the way."

"What?"

"Just move to the side!"

Link ran to the door he entered through, but did not exit.

And there he was… the masked jungle warrior from the depths of Woodfall, who had been incarcerated for years, thanks to the first Argott, the famous scrub warrior.

And now he was back.

He was slightly larger than Ganondorf. He had a colorful shield with a long, sharp sword. His mask matched the carving on the wall. It was hideous.

"It's time to fight."

Link drew his sword, and waited for Odolwa to strike.

Odolwa stood in the center, softly swinging his enormous sword back and forth.

"Shoot something at him," said Tatl.

Link pulled out his Terminian bow and shot an arrow at Odolwa's heart. Unfortunately, he blocked it with his shield.

And while Link wasn't looking, Odolwa took a huge swing at Link and struck him, causing him to fly across the room.

"_AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"_

"Link, get up! Hurry!"

Odolwa walked over to Link and began doing a mysterious jungle dance, causing a ring of fire to surround Link.

"What do I do? It's been so long since a battle like this!"

"Shoot him! His guard is down!"

Link fired an arrow at Odolwa, interrupting his crazy death dance. The arrow stunned the warrior, causing him to be disoriented.

"Quick! Strike him with your sword!"

Link ran over to the beast and hacked at him until he regained his strength.

And then, Odolwa started doing another dance…

He looked like he was just jumping up and down. His dance caused 4 large beetles to fall from the ceiling, who migrated toward Link.

"Aaaah!"

Link struck each one with his sword, killing them instantly.

But after that, Odolwa took another swing at him, barely missing.

"Ha!"

Link shot another arrow at the beast, stunning him. Link struck him with his sword again.

_You'd better watch out.  
The first part is always the easiest._

"What?"

Odolwa grasped his sword and began spinning in a constant spin attack.

Link shot another arrow at him, but it didn't do anything.

"Run!!! Avoid him while he does that attack!!"

Link ran away trying his hardest to avoid Odolwa's spin attack, but he was not fast enough.

"Aaaaaahhhhh!!!"

Link rolled over 7 times after being hit by the sword.

Just then, Odolwa stopped spinning, and lackadaisically romped around the room as an effect of dizziness.

Link fired another arrow at the beast and then gave him another taste of his sword.

And then, Odolwa raised his arms and let out yet another chant.

This one wasn't going to be good.

Hundreds of rabid moths swarmed down from the ceiling, aimed at Link.

They began to attack him.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"Link!!! Throw a bomb flower!! Hurry!"

There were bomb flowers along the wall. Link _sprinted _over to the nearest one and lobbed the flower to the center of the room.

Every moth followed the bomb's light and was soon eliminated by the explosion.

Link bent over to catch his breath.

"Gosh, Tatl, this guy is a lot harder than I thou- WHOA!"

Odolwa hurried over to Link and gave him another taste of his jungle blade.

"_AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"_

"Link! Don't let him do this to you! Pull yourself together!"

Odolwa lifted his arms again and began to sing the chant to summon the moths another time. Link could hear their crackling wings as they fluttered down from the sky.

"Not this time, you scumbag!"

Link let an arrow fly at Odolwa to stun him once again, and then slashed and hacked at him with his sword.

"This is for terrorizing the Deku Kingdom! This is for kidnapping the Deku Princess! This is for capturing Argott!"

Link continued to hack and slash until he believed the warrior could take no more.

Odolwa stood up straight like a stick, and suddenly collapsed onto the floor. Link dropped his sword and fell onto his knees, breathing deeply. He was amazed at how challenging this was for him, considering he had defeated Ganondorf and Ganon on the same day.

"Well, I guess that's it."

_"You think it's over now, you little scrub? Well, you'd better think again, because it's going to be over for you in a few seconds!!!"_

Odolwa leapt back up into the air and back onto his feet, startling Link and Tatl both. He had the same sense of anger lingering in his eyes, just like Ganondorf after he revived himself at his castle on the day Hyrule would never forget.

"What in the name of all that is holy is going on?! ODOLWA CAN TALK?!?!?!"

_You didn't actually think it would be that easy, did you?  
The jungle warrior isn't just any other soldier._

"Din! Nayru! Princess Zelda! Goddess of Time! Somebody! Anybody! Help me!!!!"

"Link! Stop this! You're a hero! You can beat him!!"

"But, I-"

"Now's not the time to talk! He's doing his spin attack!"

Link turned around and saw Odolwa doing his infamous spin attack again. The unstoppable twister. The next second, Link found himself fleeing Odolwa. Something he had never done before in such a fashion.

Odolwa gave in after several seconds and stopped spinning. Link whipped out his trusty quiver and pulled the string. Unfortunately, only about twenty arrows came with the quiver.

But… he was out of arrows.

"Tatl! I'm fresh out of arrows!! What am I supposed to do??"

"Uh… uh…"

"Tatl!"

"LINK! WATCH OUT!"

Odolwa had come closer and summoned the ring of fire again. He began to do that dance again that Link hated so very, very much.

"I'm defenseless."

_Don't just stand around.  
He'll knock you flat like a flyswatter if you do._

_"That's right, young child! RUN! RUN! Just like everyone else! No one can beat the fierce Odolwa! I am the ruler of Woodfall and will never be brought down to the pathetic status of a Terminian like you!!!"_

Odolwa took another sinister slash at Link.

_"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"__  
_

"Link… bomb flowers. Get a bomb flower."

_"Ha! I know your arrows would fail you! The arrows of Argott are weaker than a bee sting! So, now you have two choices: Get out of my temple, or suffer the wrath of my blade!"_

Odolwa took another horizontal slash at Link. Luckily, Link's reflexes acted to his benefit and he ducked so that the blade could not touch him. Link was stuck where he was in the ring of fire, though. He did not know what to do now.

_"I missed!"_

Immediately after the fire died down Link ran over to a bomb flower a hurled it at Odolwa. Luckily, it got stuck between his body and his shield, and exploded.

Odolwa let out a resounding shriek. While thrashing about the room, banging his jungle sword on the walls hysterically.

"Take a piece of this!" Link said as he slashed his sword once again.

Link could tell that Odolwa was getting more and more exhausted. Fortunately, this gave Link more confidence to beating him. Then, as Odolwa lifted up his arm in a final attempt to slash Link with his blade, Link thrust the sword into his thigh, causing him to collapse onto the ground.

Odolwa fell to the floor.

"Make sure he can't get back up this time."

Link got a bomb flower and placed it on top of the warrior. The plant ignited and engulfed the entire body in flames.

_"The masked jungle warrior... beaten by... a child?"_

"Finally. He's done for."

_Impressive, young child.  
I look forward to watching your next epic battle._

After the fire died down, Odolwa's entire body had become ash and disintegrated.

Except for the mask.

"Get his mask. I think we'll need it."

Link picked up Odolwa's mask and felt the power of the mask run through his veins and send chills down his spine. He knew this was no ordinary mask.

Suddenly, a brilliant flash of light beamed from the mask and spread throughout the whole room. Link was forced to shut his eyes to prevent from being blinded.

Link then began to feel… weightless. The feeling he was getting was similar to his "out of this world" feeling he got in the Chamber of the Sages sect of the Sacred Realm. It was a good feeling. It was relaxing, and congratulatory.

"Wha- what's going on??"

"Link… you can open your eyes now."

Link was standing on a platform in the middle of an abstract abyss. He looked around and could not decipher the elements surrounding him. The air he breathed in felt as pure and as clean as a fairy fountain.

"That… voice. Can you hear it?" asked Tatl.

"No. I can't hear anything."

"You can't?"

"No."

Link tried to walk off the platform, curious about what would happen to him. After all, this was a time for exploration.

"Link. Stay here. You have no idea where you could end up."

Instantly after Tatl shut her mouth, a resounding cry came from afar.

"What was that?!"

Link felt Odolwa's mask in his hand shaking. He knew something was going on. Was the spirit of Odolwa reviving itself, just like Ganondorf did?

No. Odolwa has no superior power like the Triforce. Odolwa's power no longer exists.

The echoing cry came wallowing at Link again. It sounded like a cry for help, but Link could not understand anything that the "being" was saying. However, the voice stopped what seemed to be a cry for help, and began to speak. Link still could not understand anything.

"Link!! Look!"

Link gazed ahead of him and saw a silhouette of some abnormal creature in the distance. He knew not to move closer to him.

"Is… is this the one?"

_SWAMP… MOUNTAINS… OCEAN… CANYON…_

_The four who are there… bring them here._

"Yes!! It is! This is one of the four!" said Link, "Tatl, can you understand anything he is saying?"

"Shh! I'm listening to him right now!"

This was indeed the one of the swamp. The one of the south. The sage. Just like Saria, and Darunia, and Ruto…

"_You've… released… me…"_

There was a pause.

"_Save… the… other………… three."_

"Save the other three?"

"_C…Ca…Call us."_

"Tatl, what does he mean?"

"I know what he means. This is exactly what Tael was telling me about."

"…and?"

"Once we have awakened the four, we must call them atop the clock tower, just as the Carnival of Time starts. At the end of the third day, just before the brink of apocalypse…"

Then, the figure in the distance began to sing.

"He's… singing," said Tatl.

"Is he?"

"You know, it actually sounds beautiful. The melody is almost hypnotizing."

"Well, that's nice. How do we get out of here?"

"Not yet. Get out your ocarina, Link."

"My ocarina?"

"Yes. You need to know this song. It is the key to calling the four on the night of destiny. Get it out."

Link pulled out the Ocarina of Time and looked at it. It's beautiful color and form reminded Link of Hyrule, and the amazing melodies he played on the instrument back then. The ocarina began to twinkle, as if enchanted by the three goddesses.

Link put the ocarina to his mouth.

He began to play.

The amazing melody began to emit from the ocarina's sound holes. This was one of the most compelling melodies Link had ever heard. It sounded as enchanting as Zelda's Lullaby and as replenishing as the Song of Healing.

"The giant… the giant is saying… play the _Oath to Order _atop the clock tower once the four have been rescued."

Link opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, there was another blinding flash of light. Link was forced to shut his eyes, but the second he opened them, he was back in the Woodfall Temple.

"Well, here we are again."

"This isn't a part we've been before."

There were several chains of vines before Link. He could barely see through the holes to the inside of the cave it was blocking off, but he could sense something moving in there.

"Well, cut it open!"

Link gave a horizontal slash to the vines.

And he could not believe his eyes. Inside was the cage Argott was trapped in… as well as… the Deku Princess!

Link knew it was the Deku Princess after putting all of the puzzle pieces together.

"Link! Get me out of here!"

Link ran over to the cage and unlocked it with the Boss Key. Argott was free, at last.

"Who is this, Argott?" said the princess.

"Princess, this is Link. Link defeated Odolwa and saved Woodfall from any more turmoil!"

"Oh, joy! If only my father could know…"

"Your father is very upset," said Link.

"What?"

"Yes. He and the rest of the Deku Palace believe some monkey named Knabb did it. They also disowned Argott for leaving the palace at one point."

"Yeah! What gives?" said Argott.

"Oh, my! Well, we have _got _to get back there at once! They cannot execute an innocent little monkey for that scarecrow kid's actions! Nor can they disown any family members!"

"Well, let's go!"

Link, Argott, and the princess ran out into Woodfall.

The water was much cleaner now, and the sun had come out from the acidic clouds from the swamp. The swamp was more like a river now.

The three ran as fast as they could to the Deku Palace. They all had to jump down from the ledge leading into Woodfall, which seemed traumatizing for Argott, but they still managed. The swamp was acutally beautiful now. The air felt clean, the water looked as pure as water from a fairy fountain, and all of the octoroks had fled.

The three ran as fast as they could into Deku Palace and up to the scrub guards.

"No one can pass through here without a special grant from the king," said one of the scrubs.

"Shut up! I'm the princess!" yelled the princess as the shoved the two guards out of the way, giving way for Link and Argott to pass through.

"Let's get to the main chamber!"

The three entered the king's chamber. Knabb was hanging on a stick above the fire, and the scrub guards were about to lower him into the heat.

"_Stop! Father! Release the monkey at once!"_

"Is that you, princess?" said the Deku butler.

"Link, is that you?" said Knabb.

"_YOU HEARD ME! RELEASE HIM!"_

"As you wish, your highness," said a scrub soldier.

The scrub soldiers dissembled the rotisserie and let Knabb go.

"Princess! What happened?"

"Father! It was that scarecrow kid with the creepy mask! He captured me five days ago and put me in a cell inside the Woodfall Temple! I kicked and screamed but he just would not let me go! Knabb was the one who heard my screaming and came to rescue me, but that's when you convicted him!"

"But… how did you escape?"

"This kid! A Terminian! He saved me!"

The princess pointed at Link.

"Actually, I'm a Hyli-"

"_And _he defeated Odolwa! Now the temple is at peace!"

"You don't say, princess! This kid is a hero! He's the new Argott!"

"It was nothing, really. Don't worry about it."

"I wish I had something to give you, chap, but I can't really think of anything that would appeal to one such as yourself. All I can give you is my gratitude."

"Well, thank you. I must be going now. I must be home by sunset."

Link so desperately wanted to get out of the swamp. He was tired of it all, even though it was cleaner now.

Link began to walk out with Tatl.

"Link!" called Argott.

Link turned around.

"Link! Thank you! You are truly a hero! The real Argott would be so proud of you!"

"Don't sweat it. You have a good life here in the palace."

"Father, you must let Argott back into the family!" exclaimed the princess.

"Well, this is a rather difficult issue…"

"No, father! He was captured by Odolwa and has gone through way too much trouble to deserve this! Let him back in!"

"Well…"

"Do it"

"Sheesh… you sure are cranky for just being released from a cell in the Woodfall Temple. Okay, he's back in."

"YAAAYYY!!!" yelled Argott, "I promise I'll never leave the palace again! I can live here forever!"

"Don't worry about that. You can come and go as you wish, just like the princess… but be careful!"

Link interrupted the speech.

"Sorry, but I must go. Thank you for your gratitude."

Link exited the palace and walked back out into the swamp.

"Link, that was great and all, but why are you so anxious to leave? We had only just arrived!"

"We are running out of time. It's 5:30 p.m. on the third day. Just look up."

Tatl looked up and saw the moon freakishly close to the earth. Chills ran through the fairy.

"You're right… You do realize that once you play the Song of Time, everything will be reset… except of course, the permanent things not bound by time."

"What are those?"

"Odolwa's remains are symbolic of legendary defeat and will always remain in your hands. Also, the sage we released today cannot be put back into his realm."

"Is that so?"

"Indeed it is… Oh, and you can also keep anything you hold onto during the melody, such as your quiver."

"That's a relief."

Knabb ran outside to Link and Tatl.

"Thank you so much, fairy boy! I am so relieved that I won't be meat fed to the mad scrubs of Woodfall! I just can't believe that you completed such a bold task."

"No sweat. You'd better go home now. It will be a stormy night."

"Really? Doesn't look like it. Oh well. Thanks again!"

The cheerful monkey scurried off into the wilderness.

"Well, might as well play it now. Nothing else to do, really."

"You're right. Let's go."

_One down. Three to go, buddy._

Link ignored the voice and played the Song of Time.

He felt everything he had just done go back to the way it was before, but he still had Odolwa's mask in his hands, and he knew that once he defeated Majora, none of this would matter because Termina would be just as peaceful as Hyrule.

That is what matters most.

And when he opened his eyes, there he was. Right outside the gates of the clock tower in South Clock Town.

_The beasts go off, one by one.  
As the journey ends, another has just begun.  
The hero walks along the sacred path,  
Breaking the barriers standing before him,  
Waiting for any foes to embrace his wrath._

"Well. The next place we need to go is Snowhead, which is to the North. The quickest way to the mountains is through the gate in North Clock Town. Let's go."

"Let's go, Tatl."


	11. Link's Legacy

**Chapter 12 – Link's Legacy**

Princess Zelda, with a cup of hot tea from the trees of Kokiri Forest, walked over to her bed in Hyrule Castle, as night fell upon Hyrule. Every waking hour, she thought about Link, wondering where he was and how he was doing. She never feared that he could be in trouble after defeating Ganondorf. She had confidence that if anything stood in his way he could get through it.

"Hello, princess."

"Hey, Impa."

"Going to sleep early tonight? It's only nine o'clock. The market isn't even closed yet."

"I'm exhausted, Impa. I've done a lot today. Picked up some milk at Lon Lon Ranch, looked over the new amendments to Hylian laws that my father will pass this week, took the horse out to Hyrule Field to get some exercise, and wrote Link a letter. It's been a long day."

"You wrote Link a letter?"

"Yeah. It's been almost a month since he left."

Unknown to Link, only Termina was affected by the Song of Time. Hyrule's time passed normally, and was never reset. Link was in for the longest three days of his life.

"Do you even know where he is?"

"No, I don't. I'm going to give this letter to Kaepora Gaebora, who will fly across the countries and locate Link, and then give it to him."

"You really think that old owl can do that?"

"I sure do. Kaepora Gaebora knows the lands very well, and from the direction Link left Hyrule from, the Lost Woods, is the land of Termina. It's quite a long way off, but that's the only you'll hit if you head that direction."

"Wow. You're right. I completely forgot about that, since I haven't actually left Hyrule since before you were born, and when I did leave Hyrule, it was through the Death Mountain range towards Miakal."

"I know the lands well, Impa. Also, Terminian government officials came here once several years ago, for a conference with my father and many of the Hyrule Castle officials. Don't you remember?"

"I was in Kakariko Village at the time, but I do remember."

"Well, I have confidence that Kaepora will find Link eventually. Sometimes I can feel Link's presence. I believe it is when he plays the ocarina. The one song I told him to remember before he left was the Song of Time."

"That's probably the best one."

"Indeed it is."

"Well, I should go, Zelda. I have some work to do before I can get my beauty sleep. Your dad is quite a tough boss."

Zelda chuckled, "good night, Impa."

"See you in the morning."

Impa walked out of Zelda's bedroom and down the corridor towards the Hyrule Castle throne room, looking at the portraits of old Hyrule Castle kings and queens from the past. Impa herself began to think about Link, who she had not actually thought about very much since he defeated Ganondorf a year before. The reason being she never actually saw him. Link came by the castle once after returning to his original time, but thereafter he spent most of his time in Kokiri Forest, despite the fact that he was a Hylian.

The only places Impa ever went outside of the castle were Kakariko Village and Lake Hylia. She very rarely ventured into the forest. It was quite a long way to travel from the castle, anyway.

Impa remembered the day Link sealed the evil spirit of shadow, Bongo Bongo, into the evil realm. That was the day she awakened as the Shadow Sage. That was the day that evil had been deprived from the Kakariko graveyard and the spirits that continuously tormented Kakariko Village were sealed.

"Impa! Welcome back! It's been a long day for us, so I just have one more task for you. Don't worry, though. You can complete it in the morning," said the king.

"Yes, your majesty."

"I need you to travel to Kokiri Forest and gather the items in the Hero of Time's old home."

Impa was somewhat shocked. "What? You want me to steal Link's things?"

"No, not _steal. _Link told Zelda that we could take those things, because he doesn't want them anymore. I can show you the letter he left."

The king handed a small document to Impa.

_Dear Royal Family of Hyrule,_

_As you know by now, I am leaving Hyrule for an unknown period of time. It will, however, be temporary. Many people have asked me why I am leaving. The truth is, I cannot give a legitimate answer. The only thing I can say is that I seek adventure. But I promise all of you, I will return. I have decided to leave all of my weapons that I own at my home in Kokiri Forest, because I do not have any intentions of fighting any battles like I did here. I am only bringing my Kokiri Sword and a shield that I made myself, called the Hero's Shield. I am bringing these things just in case I need to defend myself._

_I grant permission to the Royal Family and any other appointees of Hyrule Castle to access my home. I would rather the Kokiri children not enter my home because they could be dangerous with those weapons, except for Saria. All I ask of the Royal Family is to not destroy or give away any of the weapons, because most of the Hyrulean population does not have legal access to such weapons. Feel free to use my home for any purpose, but please do not tear it down. These are my requests._

_Thank you, Zelda, and the rest of the Royal Family. I will be returning soon._

_Link_

"I see," said Impa.

"Yes. We're actually planning to preserve some of the weapons, such as the Fairy Bow, the Megaton Hammer, and the Golden Gauntlets. They're now symbols of Ganondorf's defeat."

"I understand, your majesty. I will leave first thing in the morning."

"Thank you, Impa! You are a noble servant."

The king tossed a red rupee to Impa as a tip.

"Thank you, your majesty."

Impa walked down the opposite corridor to her castle bedroom.

Impa and Zelda weren't the only ones in the land of Hyrule thinking of Link. Some others missed him just as much, and wondered when he would be coming back. Saria's life continued in the forest, although she spoke to Link at various times. Darunia was very busy, but peaceful, as he maintained Goron city. Ruto was still impatient for Link to come back to her and marry her, as he had promised. She could not just forget about it. She only saw Link once after he defeated Ganondorf.

But one person who frequently thought about Link was Malon.

"You still up, Malon?"

"Yes, dad. Don't mind me. Get some rest. It's a big day for you tomorrow."

"Just checkin' up on ya. You remembered to feed the cuccos, right?"

"Yes, dad."

"Okay then. See you in the mornin'."

Talon walked downstairs from the ranch house to his bedroom. Malon was sitting in her room just thinking of Link. Since Malon was not one of the sages, she was completely unaware of the events that took place in Link's adulthood. All she knew was the fact that Link saved Hyrule in another dimension of time and is now declared the Hero of Time.

Malon so deeply wished she could have witnessed the events, no matter how terrifying they might have been. There was something about Link and his heroic nature that she just loved. She missed Link so greatly, and wished she could have spent more time with him before he left.

Then, it clicked.

Malon had almost forgotten. Termina. Link told Malon he was heading south through the Lost Woods, which ultimately led to Termina. Malon knew the land very well, since she had visited Termina several times on certain occasions. She went to visit two certain people, who she did not get to see near as much as she desired.

These two people were relatives of Malon, who resided in southwestern Termina. They lived a life very similar to that of Malon's. They tended cows, raised Cuccos, bred horses, and enjoyed the same ranch life Malon got to enjoy. These girls lived in Hyrule for the first two years of their lives, before a rather disturbing event took place.

"_That's it, Talon! I've had enough! You have proven to me that you can't raise girls! All you can raise are stupid Cuccos! Ever since we inherited this ranch, all you have done is mess with those stupid birds, and completely ignored your family! I can't take it anymore! The girls and I are moving out of Hyrule!!"_

"_Kiomada!! Wait! Give me another chance! I was only tending these Cuccos so they wouldn't get out of hand like they do in Kakariko Village."_

"_It's not just the Cuccos, Talon! It's this whole stinkin' ranch! Ever since we moved here all you have cared about is the ranch! You hardly even spoke to your family!"_

"_Kiomada…"_

"_No, Talon. This is it. We're leaving."_

"_No!! You can't take the girls with you! I don't even know where you are going!! They're my girls too, you know!"_

"_I can't leave them to be raised by a man who cares about chickens more than he cares about his own daughters!!"_

"_That's just your ridiculous assumption!"_

_Just then, their oldest daughter walked into the house. She was a young girl, confused about the situation, and worried for her baby sisters._

"_Mom, what's going on?"_

"_Cremia, we're leaving."_

"_What? We're leaving?"_

"_Yes. Get your sisters and we're leaving Hyrule tonight."_

"_They're asleep."_

"_Well, wake them up."_

"_Is daddy coming?"_

"_No. He's staying here."_

"_Mom, what's going on?!"_

"_Nothing! We're moving to a ranch in Termina, away from Hyrule!"_

"_I don't want to live in Termina!"_

"_Listen to Cremia, Kiomada! We all should stay here!" said Talon._

"_I don't think so, Talon. The girls and I are leaving tonight."_

_Talon knew how hard it was to negotiate with Kiomada. He knew Kiomada had always wanted to leave Hyrule ever since she moved there as a little girl. This was just the last straw giving her a legitimate excuse to leave._

"_Kiomada, at least let me keep one of the girls. That's it."_

"_Why should I leave any of the girls with you if you won't take care of them?"_

"_You don't understand. I love the girls more than anything, and it would be cruel and unfair for you to take them all with you. If you don't leave one of them with me, I will notify castle officials that you broke Hylian law by taking my daughters without approval!"_

_Kiomada sighed and accepted. "Fine, take one of the twins. Cremia is too old to change her life like this. Take your pick."_

"_It doesn't matter to me. I don't prefer one over the other."_

"_Fine. You take Malon."_

_Talon didn't respond._

"_Talon, if you ever have a change in heart and decide you do want to raise a family, you will know exactly where to find us. I will let Romani and Cremia see you on holidays."_

That was it. Malon's separated sisters lived in Hyrule, and took over the ranch after Kiomada decided she no longer could run a ranch herself. Kiomada named the ranch _Romani Ranch, _after her younger daughter. Sadly, both Romani and Cremia eventually forgot Talon after they stopped visiting Hyrule. Kiomada did not want her girls to be clueless about the status of their father, so she told them that Talon passed away shortly after Romani was born, so they would let it go. While it is seemingly cruel to do such a thing, it was for the girls' own good, so they would not worry about him.

After that, Romani and Cremia maintained Romani's Ranch in Termina. Cremia and Romani did not remember their lives at Hyrule at all. They did, however see Malon when she visited, but they never saw Talon. Thereafter, Kiomada continued living in her own part of the ranch near the doggie track, a place maintained by her. Cremia and Malon simply lived their lives by milking their cows and delivering it to Clock Town.

"So if Link is in Termina, he's got to somehow stumble upon the ranch. I've got to write Romani!"

Malon pulled out a piece of Deku Paper and began to write her sister whom she hadn't even seen since before she met Link.

Morning rolled around with a beautiful Hyrulean sunrise over the mountains. It was another great day in the country of Hyrule.

By 8am, the Hyrule castle market was sprawling with people and businessmen. It had grown very much since Ganondorf's defeat. People were walking up and down the cobblestone to the places they had to be. Impa began to trot through on her horse through the central road of Hyrule Castle Town. She sped up after exiting the town square and proceeded across the drawbridge into the countryside.

She began to head east, towards the forest, in her task to pick up several of Link's belongings and return them to the castle. Impa felt like it had been ages since she got to ride through Hyrule Field. The field was the so peaceful, like Lake Hylia in the early morning. It was beautiful. She looked to her left as she passed Death Mountain, seeing the large volcano from a distance, with the ring of clouds circling it. She could even see small buildings from the growing Kakariko Village to the left before the mountain range.

Recently, Hylian officials had established transportation routes throughout the field, since anywhere could lead to a different sect of Hyrule. Signs were posted up everywhere to aid traveling salesmen.

_**NORTHERN HYRULE FIELD**_

**KOKIRI FOREST – Continue Straight  
KAKARIKO VILLAGE/DEATH MTN. – Head North  
HYRULE CASTLE – Opposite Direction  
LON LON RANCH – Head South  
ZORA'S TRIBUTARY – Take the Left Road at the next fork**

Impa knew her way around the land, but it was a much longer trip to the forest than she thought. The field was much larger than she thought. Had it really been this long since Impa went anywhere?

It was peaceful in the forest, as usual. Saria was doing her daily work, feeding the Deku Tree Sprout, and tending her shop in the southern sect of Kokiri Forest. In her new shop she sold herbs and crops from the Sacred Forest Meadow, which could be used to make unique Kokirian teas, and also be used as medical treatment for wounds.

Mido was no longer the head honcho of the Kokiri children. At a Kokirian council meeting shortly after Link left, the residents of Kokiri had a majority vote outlawing head children, because the Great Deku Tree always taught that all Kokiri children were equal, and many of the children were tired of being bossed around by Mido. As a matter of fact, the Kokiri Children Council of the Lost Woods, an organization started by Saria, established a set of laws for the residents of the forest to abide by. Each copy was posted in shops and other public places in the forest.

After a couple of hours passed, Impa finally arrived in Kokiri Forest. She pranced through on her horse and proceeded over to Link's home.

There was a sign in front of Link's house, with the Kokirian Laws posted on them, with an important part in red…

_**DOCUMENT OF OFFICIAL KOKIRIAN LAWS:**_

_SECTION IV:_

_Any non-Kokiri or non-residents of the Lost Woods shall not be allowed to enter sacred landmarks of the forest, including, but not limited to: the Great Deku Tree, the former home of Link, and the Forest Temple. Any people wishing to enter must have a signed permit by the king of Hyrule OR written permission from the Kokirian ambassador in Hyrule Castle._

_To override this limitation, please see Saria of Kokiri Forest._

"Oh, great," said Impa.

Impa knew she could easily just go ahead and climb up to the door, because Kokiri children wouldn't be able to do anything about it. But, she had respect for Link. After all, he was the one who freed her from the Shadow Realm beneath the graveyard.

A young, innocent Kokiri child named Flido walked by on the dirt path near Link's home.

"Hey, you!"

"…yes?"

"You, come here for a second."

The child was somewhat afraid of Impa's appearance and curious about what she wanted from him, but he decided to comply.

"You know whose house this is?"

"Yeah. It's Link's. The hero of time. I never actually met Link. I live on the other side of the forest and never saw him when he actually lived here-"

"Okay, okay. Do you know where Saria is? This sign says I have to talk to her."

"Saria's at her shop on the west end of the forest. It's up on a hill."

Impa sighed with exasperation.

"Okay. Thanks, kid."

Flido scurried off, not wanting to speak to such an outsider any longer.

"Now I've gotta walk to the other side of the forest again."

But, Saria wasn't in her shop. As a matter of fact, her shop was closed for the day. Saria was busy doing something else. She was in the Sacred Forest Meadow, once again, near the Forest Temple. The Kokirians had commenced a project to inhabit the Forest Temple and declare it an official Kokiri Sanctuary. Saria and several other Kokirians were constructing a stairway leading up to the temple.

Impa was out of luck. She had no idea how to navigate herself through the Lost Woods, especially since the Hylians hadn't put any signs up around the forest leading the way. Feelings stirring up inside her made her know that she didn't want or even _need _to consult Saria. She was ordered by the king, so she had her rights.

Impa immediately turned around and headed back to Link's house.

As she approached, she had a much more laid back feeling inside of her, letting her feel sure she could do this and then head back to the castle. She scaled the old ladder to the tree house and entered.

The house was just as it looked when Link actually lived there. There everything was… the legendary Hylian Shield, The Fairy Bow of the forest, the Gorons' Megaton Hammer, the Longshot of the Zoras, the ghostly Hover Boots, and the ever-sacred Mirror Shield of Desert Colossus.

"Wow. So… let's see. I need the Golden Gauntlets, the bow, the hammer, the shield… Oh, heck, I'll take it all."

Impa began to gather everything that once belonged to Link and prepared it for the king. She knew he would be so proud.

There was a book on the table in the middle of the room. It just had an engraving of the Triforce on it. Impa, overcome with curiosity, decided to open it…

**LINK'S JOURNAL**

Impa flipped to a random page.

**Twenty-frist day of the Month of the Gerudo 465 – Hyrulean Calendar.**

_Wow. I don't think anyone could fathom what I've been through over the past several months. I had to go inside the very ruler of the forest: the Great Deku Tree, and battle one of the most decrepit and terrifying creatures I have ever seen. It was my first true battle, so I was especially frightened. Then, I had to venture into one of the dark caves of Death Mountain: Dodongo's Cavern, and battle a monstrous, fire-breathing dinosaur. Then, the worst of all came. I went over to Zora's Domain and actually entered a great big fish, to save the Zora princess, then I had to fight an electric anemone that had been growing inside the fish for a long time. It's been crazy. Unfortunately, it doesn't end here. Zelda told me I had to go to the Temple of Time near the castle after I collected all three stones. I'm not sure what's going to happen after that, but she told me something about this instrument passed down by the Royal Family called the Ocarina of Time. Maybe I'm supposed to find that in the temple or something._

_Truthfully, I have no idea what will happen once I put the stones in the temple. Hopefully that will be the end of my quest and I will be able to come back home and live my life. Oh well. I'll see Zelda when I go to the temple. She promised she'd meet me there. I plan to hike across the field to Hyrule Castle this afternoon. However, I heard from the Kokirian Ambassador that they had to close the drawbridge for some emergency in the castle. Wonder what's going on. I hope it will be down by the time I get there, so I won't be stuck out in the field at night. Hmm. Well, I guess I'd better get going so I can make it before dark. I sure am excited about seeing Zelda again._

Impa vividly remembered that moment. It was shortly before dusk when she and Zelda fled Hyrule Castle to escape from Ganondorf. She could barely even see Link since she was so concentrated on getting out of the castle. Chills went down her spine, but then she decided to flip some more pages.

**Eighth day of the Month of the Zora 466 - Hyrulean Calendar.**

_It's been quite an interesting past few years. I did some things I would never even dream of doing in my lifetime. I got the three Spiritual Stones and then traveled to another dimension of time, seven years into the future, and collected six spiritual medallions, then defeated Ganondorf, the prime threat to Hyrule in all of it's history. I don't want to sound arrogant, but that stuff is pretty big. The funny thing is, after Zelda returned me to my normal time, everything reset to the way it was after I placed the three stones in their spots in the Temple of Time, except Ganondorf was gone. Nobody actually knew what happened except for me, Zelda, Navi, the six Sages, and Ganondorf, of course. Oh well._

_Life has been great since his defeat. I've been able to return to my home here in the forest and am content. However, I'll never forget what the Deku Tree Sprout said to me after I saved Saria from Phantom Ganon. He told me I was no longer a Kokiri, but a Hylian. We all know what that means… I am growing up. So… does that mean I should no longer be living in the forest? I don't wish to leave all of my Kokiri friends behind, but I feel that it is my niche in Hylian society to live elsewhere. I was thinking maybe Hyrule Castle Town, Kakariko Village, or Lake Hylia Village. I don't know yet, but I will decide soon. Sometimes I wonder what it is like outside of the nation of Hyrule. Is it the same? Different? I hope to explore outwards someday, but I still wish to keep Hyrule my home._

"Okay, I shouldn't be reading this anymore," Impa said to herself, as she closed the book.

She placed all of the items in her knapsack. The Megaton Hammer put a significant amount of weight to it, but Impa was sure she could manage. She walked back outside and climed down the ladder. Luckily, no pesky Kokiri children spotted her.

Impa got back on her horse and trotted back into Hyrule Field. The only thing on her mind, however, was Link's Legacy that he had left in Hyrule. She could not forget him and finally realized what an impact he had left. Now, she was beginning to feel like Malon and Zelda. She even wanted to write him a letter, or better yet, use her power as the fifth sage to visit him, just like Saria did.


	12. A Cold Wind from the North

AN:

Hey again,

And so begins the second part of the Termina quest: the mountains. Once again, the story does begin to change much more here, so you won't be hearing a total retelling of Majora's Mask. Just keep reading. In this chapter, Link begins to explore the north, not knowing the hardships that lie ahead of him. Hope you like this chapter. More to come.

**Chapter 13 – A Cold Wind from the North**

Link began to walk towards North Clock Town through the Clock Town morning breeze.

"Hey, Tatl."

"Yeah?"

"So… where exactly is Argott right now? Is he back the way he was?"

"Actually, I already thought about this."

"Huh?"

"You see, Argott actually traveled back in time with us once… so, technically, he still knows who you are."

"I understand that, but is he still expelled from the Deku family?"

"I'm not entirely sure… He might be right here in Clock Town."

"You think so…?"

"Hey, Link!" yelled Argott, from the Laundry Pool.

"Argott?"

"Yeah, it's me! Thanks to you, I sort of live her now!! Isn't that funny?"

Argott was now totally aware of the ocarina's powers. Is that good or not?

"What about the Deku Royal Family? Are you still apart of it?"

"No… they actually expelled me from the palace two days ago, so that can't really be redone. But once you save Termina I'm sure they'll reconsider!"

"How do you know that I have to save Termina? Weren't you just with me at Woodfall?"

"Yes, but I am totally aware of your quest. I know what happened when you picked up that mask off Odolwa's face. You saw the giant, didn't you?"

"What?! How do you know that?!"

"I am a descendent of the legendary Argott. He was the one who first rescued the giant. His story is passed down through the generations. Only our family knows of these secrets, though."

"Is that so, indeed?"

"Yup. So, where ya headed now?"

"Tatl said we should go to the mountains now. You know, up north?"

"Yeah! I've never been there. I hear it's gotten really cold up there! It's pretty funny, since it was nice and warm there a week ago. Those poor Gorons."

"Gorons live up there?"

"Yeah! Gorons love the mountains."

"Oh…"

"So… can I come?"

Link chuckled. "Argott, I don't think scrubs can really stand such cold weather. You'd be miserable. If I were you, I'd just stay here in town, and maybe the swamp."

"I don't want to go to the nasty swamp. I'll stay in town if I have to."

"Good, but I advise you to stay away from the cold."

"Okay, Link. Come find me when you're in town, then."

"Okay, Argott."

Link continued to walk up to the northern edge of town, while Argott frolicked off and explored. He passed the tower and the rural parts of the town. There was Jim, trying to shoot the big Majora's Mask balloon again.

Link continued on the path until he eventually ran into the northern gate, where a Terminian guard stood.

"Hey, wait a second there, young lad! I'm afraid I can't allow you to head up to the mountains. It's gotten very cold up there and the Gorons recently sent out a notice saying they didn't want anyone but town officials going up there until it warmed up. Sorry, lad."

"But I can defend myself… Look! I have a sword!"

"I can see that, and I'm sure you can easily defend yourself, but you'll freeze up there! A lot of Gorons are migrating down here to escape the cold. I don't know if you've checked, but the Stock Pot Inn is full of them. You'd be much better off staying down here."

"You don't understand! I can help the Gorons! There's something bad going on up there, and I have to stop it!"

"You? You're going to stop it? That's a laugh! No one can stop it from being cold."

"It's not that. It's that Skull Kid."

"Who?"

"The Skull Kid! Have you looked up at the sky recently?"

"Uh…?"

"Yeah! Look at that moon! It's pretty dang close, isn't it?"

"Sure is. I was thinking about that myself."

"Something bad is going on, and we have to work together to stop it. If we can eliminate whatever force is tormenting the Gorons in the north, we can save this land!"

"Hmm… interesting concept. Okay, kid. You've convinced me. Now, listen. I don't want you doing any funny business up there! I just want you to talk to Darmani, the leader of the Terminian Gorons and ask how the people of Clock Town can help. We can't stop the cold, but we sure can save the Gorons. Just be sure and be back here by tomorrow night so I can send out another notice!"

"Thanks, guard!"

Link tossed a blue rupee up into the air for the guard to catch. He wasn't exactly sure if he was going to keep his word and return the next night, but he was surely going to get some useful information.

Link ran out of the northern gate.

There they were. The big Northern Mountains of Termina. They looked so close, but they were quite a distance away. There was a sign to the right of Link…

**NORTHERN TERMINA FIELD**

**CONTINUE straight on the path toward the Northern Mountains. BEWARE of Dodongos and other creatures upon coming to the base of the mountains. We strongly urge you to carry a weapon at all times.**

**- The Great Goron Alliance**

"Uh-oh…"

"Don't worry about it, Link. Dodongos are stupid."

"Yeah, I guess. How long's the walk?"

"Don't know for sure. It could be quite a walk there, but it's fine. Termina Field is gorgeous in the morning."

"Indeed it is."

Link began to walk. He talked with Tatl as he walked towards the mountains.

"So, Tatl, tell me exactly what happened up there. Were you present when the Skull Kid did it?"

"Yes… unfortunately. It wasn't too long ago. He went up to the Snowhead Temple which is located in a deep basin in the middle of the range and revived the monster dwelling within it, named Goht. After he revived the monster, he placed a curse upon all of the mountains. It was the gloomiest curse of all. The mountains have always been known as the most beautiful region of Termina, but on that day the Skull Kid cast an eternal snowfall upon the mountains. According to him, winter would never end in the mountains, making Gorons' lives miserable."

"Whoa."

"Yeah. The Gorons can only flourish in warm weather. Usually when winter rolls around in the mountains, most of the Gorons migrate to the south end of the mountains where it is warmer, but this time the south end is just as cold."

"That's awful…"

"Indeed it is. I can't believe I stood behind the Skull Kid during all that."

"Maybe it was because… you didn't want him to hurt you."

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. So, is there a leader of the Gorons? The leader of the Gorons in Hyrule was Darunia of Death Mountian."

"Yup. The leader of the Gorons of the Northern Mountains is Darmani. I could be wrong, but I heard that Darmani was actually killed recently. From what I heard, he tried to fight Goht and put him back where he belonged. Sadly, the Skull Kid had empowered Goht with superior powers unseen by the Gorons, that Darmani could not endure."

"So… he's dead?"

"I think so…"

"How terribly sad."

"I know. I don't know who the next leader could be."

"Hmm…"

"All of this talking is making me want to go up there more. We have got to help those Gorons out."

"We should, and we will, Tatl."

"Just be careful, Link. It really is cold up there. You should probably get something warmer to wear."

"Something warmer to wear? I haven't such a thing. I'll be fine, Tatl."

"I don't know, Link…"

"Listen, Tatl. If I do just freeze up, I can always find something warm. It's too late to turn back to Clock Town now anyway."

"Okay. Suit yourself."

This was a much longer walk than the walk to the swamp, but they were getting closer to the mountains. Link knew, because he could feel the temperature slowly dropping, and was beginning to feel a chilly wind coming from the north. He was indeed getting closer.

Meanwhile, some Gorons had actually left the mountains and migrated to other places. Many went to Ikana Canyon and Clock Town, but few went to Great Bay and none went to the Southern Swamp. In fact, a Goron named Viccum traveled throughout Termina selling Goron products. At that moment, he was headed to Clock Town. However, he took a detour that led from the mountains to Ikana Canyon, rather than having to venture through the frigid slopes.

He was planning to arrive at Clock Town that afternoon through the Eastern Gate and spend the night at Anju's Stock Pot Inn. At that moment, he was just making his way out of Ikana's gate.

"_Whoo! That sure was a tiring hike! All the way through the Mountain Village to the Lower Valley and all the way through Ikana Village! It sure has been quite a long walk! I can't wait till I get to Clock Town and have a nice nap!" _though Viccum.

Viccum finally made his way out of Ikana and into the easternmost region of Termina Field. He couldn't even see Clock Town from there, though.

"Oh, great!"

**EASTERN TERMINA FIELD**

**Now LEAVING IKANA. Continue STRAIGHT towards Clock Town. Beware of Bombchu animals.**

"It's that long of a walk? I sure hope those stupid critters don't see me."

Viccum continued to walk along the dry, rocky path. He was getting more and more tired. The more he walked, the more he reminisced on Darmani.

"Ugh! If that darned kid didn't come and wake up that monster up in Snowhead… Darmani… he'd still be with us. I hate him! I wanna wring that stupid kid's neck!! How dare he mess with the leader of the Gorons of Termina? How dare he?!"

Viccum got to the point where he was talking out loud to himself, expressing his utmost anger toward the situation. He missed Darmani, and knew how miserable the rest of the Gorons were, especially the youngest one: the son of the Goron's former king. Viccum tried to ignore these things as he progressed toward Clock Town, but could not get them out of his head. His only option was to continue…

"Geez, Tatl, are we almost there yet?"

"We're getting closer, but we're not there quite yet."

"This would be so much faster if I had Epo- Epona?"

"Huh?"

"Epona! I can't believe it! I almost forgot about Epona!! Tatl, what did the Skull Kid do with Epona?"

"Uh…"

"Tell me! That horse is my most prized possession! You have no idea what I had to do to earn her back in Hyrule!"

"Okay! I'll tell you! Truth be told, I'm not exactly sure where she is. All I know is… the Skull Kid just released her somewhere in Termina. He didn't… kill her, if that's what you were thinking."

"That's a relief. So she's probably just running about the land?"

"I really don't know. There is a ranch southwest of Clock Town. She may be there for all we know."

"She's there? Ah, you should have told me! We could have gone to find her!"

"Well, first of all, I'm not 100 percent sure she is there, and second of all, the Skull Kid placed a massive boulder on Milk Road a couple of days ago, preventing people from entering and leaving the ranch!! It was so cruel!"

"He did?"

"Yeah, but once we find some way to open it, we can get her."

"Okay. That's good."

"But for now, we must stay on task. I think it's getting colder."

"It is."

Tatl could actually now see the path leading up to the villages of the mountains. It was covered in snow as expected. She followed it up with her eyes until she saw… a large block of ice? The pathway was blocked by a large block of ice?

Maybe her eyes were deceiving her. Luckily, she could also see a Goron up there. Maybe he was assigned there to prevent intruders, which was good, because he wouldn't try and stop Link with all of his weapons, and he would at least try and keep other goons out of there.

As Link continued to walk towards the mountains, the colder it continued to become. It was actually starting to bother Link.

"Brr… Tatl. It really is starting to get chilly. I wonder if there's a shop anywhere nearby."

"I wouldn't count on it. They might have some in the mountains, though."

The mountains were getting larger, and Link was almost able to see the base of the mountains.

"I think we're almost there!"

There was, in fact, a Goron by the entrance to the mountains, and there was also a large block of ice. The Goron's name was Maggiar, and he was a member of the Great Goron Alliance of Termina, a group established by Darmani in order to protect the Goron people against attacks, provide the basic needs to Goron villages, and help maintain a stable Goron government.

He had been assigned as a guard at the base of the mountains. They wanted him to make sure no outsiders came in, especially Terminians. The Gorons had recently released a notice saying no outsiders would be allowed in. But he was miserable. He was cold, hungry, and bored because he had to stand in the same place from sunup to sundown. Having people trying to enter the mountains would even be exciting.

Link finally approached the great mountains of Termina. He knew he was at the base once he saw snow beneath his feet.

"We're here! Finally!"

"Link…"

"But it sure is cold out here! Brr!!"

"Link, watch out!"

"What?"

There was a big Dodongo walking towards Link, about to unveil an inferno of fire from its mouth.

"Whoa!" said Link, as he dodged the Dodongo just before it let out the fire, "you know, Tatl, that fire actually feels nice."

"Oh, Link, stop! We've got to go! You can outrun that Dodongo!"

"Okay, okay."

Link ran past the Dodongo towards the mountain. He saw some steps that looked as if they had been carved. The Gorons must have put them there for easier access to the mountain.

**Follow these steps to the Northern Mountain Village. Please be cautious.**

**- The Great Goron Alliance.**

Link didn't have too much time to read the sign. He had to escape the Dodongo's line of fire until it could no longer see him. He ran up the stairs in great agility.

He reached the gate where Maggiar was standing.

"H-H-Hello," said Maggiar.

"Hi."

"W-Wh-Who a-are y-y-ou?"

"My name is Link. I've come to help the Gorons."

"Y-you have?"

"Yes. Is something wrong?"

"Y-yes… I'm f-f-fr-free-freezing!!!"

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. How do I get up to the village?"

"R-right th-through he-ere, but there's a huge bl-block of ice in the w-way!"

"I can see that…"

"And I don't know if-f I'm sup-supposed to l-let you in!"

"Listen, Mr.- what's your name?"

"M-Maggiar."

"Mr. Maggiar, I was sent here by the Mayor of Clock Town to help the Gorons. I heard that there's some bad things going on up in… Snowhead? I think that's the name. I've come to help."

"W-well… I don't mind, but y-you have to somehow b-br-break this ice!"

"Hmm… Tatl?"

"I don't know, Link. It looks pretty solid."

"What's that up there?"

"It looks like a humongous icicle!"

"Hmm…"

"You don't have anything that might be able to melt the ice?"

"Not a thing."

"Oh…"

"Well, maybe we can get that icicle to fall."

"How?"

"Shoot it with a few arrows."

"You think that'll work?"

"Yes. Just do it."

And with that, Link fired three powerful arrows at the icicle. It jiggled several times before it fell onto the ice block. Upon contact with the ice, it caused the block to shatter into hundreds of pieces. Never thought an icicle could do that. The ice must have been very brittle.

"Great! Let's go!"

"W-wait!!"

"What is it, Maggiar?"

"I can't stand here any longer!"

Maggiar had stopped stuttering.

"Let me come with you!"

"Come with me?"

"Yes! Maybe I can help! I live in Goron Village, which is in a basin toward the eastern side of the mountains!"

"Oh, okay, come on then!"

Link and Maggiar ran up through what seemed to be a trench in the mountains. It was covered in snow. Despite how cold it was, it was rather beautiful.

"Where does this lead to?"

"It leads to the mountain village! That's were all of the non-Gorons of the mountains live! We might be able to recuperate there!"

Link and Maggiar continued to run through the increasingly deep snow. Link had now adjusted to the cold temperature, but still needed something warmer. This event was so reminiscent of the Ice Cavern near Zora's Domain in Hyrule. He remembered how unusually cold it was there and how lifeless it made the region look, but somehow, the ice and the cold was enchanting. He just wished he could have known what caused it to happen.

The infamous day that Link never even got to witness was flashing through his head, as if being send to him by the godesses.

"_King! There's a large man dressed in black at the gate! He claims to be from Hyrule Castle! Should I let him in?"_

"_A man dressed in black?"_

"_Yes. I don't like the looks of him."_

"_I know who that is. Princess Zelda said this was coming. It's the evil king! Do not let that man in to Zora's Domain!!"_

"_Yes, sir!"_

_The Zora guard ran back to the entrance to give Ganondorf the news._

"_Sorry, sir, but we aren't allowing visitors! You'll have to come back another time!"_

"_Is that so, young Zora?"_

_Ganondorf launched through the waterfall and into the domain. He looked down at the water as all of the Zora's looked at him in shock and panic._

"_Who are you?!" asked a random Zora from afar._

"_Your new king."_

_Ganondorf lifted his hands and began to cast an evil spell upon the Zora's territory._

"_What is he doing?!?!"_

_He shot a white beam from his hands, identical to Kotake's ice attack, at the water. It sent a freezing current throughout the water, freezing it instantly, and freezing the poor Zoras in the water._

"_Zora people, ATAAAAAAAAAACCCKKK!!!!!!!!!!!"_

_All of the Zora's courageously charged Ganondorf in fury and anger for destroying their haven. They had no fear of what he would to do them. The Zora warriors grabbed their spears and swords, ready to attack the king of evil until he begged for mercy._

_But, the king of evil was feeling different today. Once all of the Zoras got to him, he flew out of the domain and back to the river, making all of the Zoras follow him._

"_Follow him!"_

_They all ran out to Zora's river. The momentum unfortunately forced them all to fall into the river. Ganondorf, using the Triforce of Power, cast a spell on the river also, causing it to speed up and go faster, so the Zoras would not be able to get out until the river emptied in Lake Hylia._

"_Have a nice trip!" said Ganondorf, as he flew back into the domain. Now it was time for King Zora. Ganondorf didn't even give him an opportunity to speak. He quickly cast a curse upon him, freezing his entire body in red ice, and ice that could only be melted by blue fire._

_Out in the fountain, Lord Jabu-Jabu finally noticed what was going on, and swam away through the river gate in front of him, breaking it down. The gate ultimately led to Lake Hylia as well._

_From then until Link saved Hyrule, the Zoras' land was a freezing wasteland._

_Was the Skull Kid mimicking Ganondorf?_

Link got more chills just thinking about how horrid that was. How horrid it was to see such a beautiful haven of the Zoras frozen. Now, he got to see the haven of the Gorons frozen. What an unpleasant sight. Almost as unpleasant as the sight of Ganon's castle in the place where Hyrule castle was before.

Link eventually noticed that they were climbing, and the higher they got, the more the temperature dropped. It just didn't feel too great for him. This was making the Fire Temple seem wonderful.

"M-Maggiar, is there an-ny place that's w-warm in the village?"

"Yeah, but you'll have to wait a little."

Tatl was burrowed inside Link's hat again. She was just as cold as him. She had never actually been around such cold weather, and did not realize what the Skull Kid had done until now.

Once again, Link and Maggiar were not the only ones hiking somewhere. Viccum was still treacherously making his way through the dry part of eastern Termina. It was 10am, and he hadn't gotten much closer to Clock Town since he left the canyon.

"Oh, man! It must've been eight hours since I left the darn canyon!! If I had known that stupid town was so far off, I wouldn't have come!" Viccum said to himself.

Viccum began to wonder what things were going on back in the mountains. He was worried, because the young Goron child was crying uncontrollably before he left due to the cold and lack of head inside the Goron's shrine, but he had work to do. He was a businessman. It was his duty to venture across the lands. After all, his good friend Gannik lived in Clock Town at the local bomb shop, where he sold powder kegs. It was about time he paid his old friend a visit anyway.

Viccum continued to walk. After a few steps, he began to hear the noise of some creature scuttling across the ground.

"What was that?"

More running.

"I guess I should just keep goin' and ignore it."

Then, the critter came out. It was a Real Bombchu… the dreaded animal native to Ikana Canyon that took pleasure in sacrificing itself.

The creature spotted Viccum.

"What do you want? Get outta here!"

The creature's natural reaction was to set its bomb off and run at Viccum, which is exactly what it did. It even sprinted at him, anxiously waiting to blow itself up and hurt the Goron.

"Oh no!"

Viccum began to run faster, hoping the creature wouldn't catch him. But, Gorons aren't too fast when they're running. They can only go fast while rolling… but Viccum couldn't roll. He had a large knapsack.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"

The Bombchu got closer. Viccum saw a rock on the ground and threw it, hoping the Bombchu would follow it, but he didn't even see the rock get thrown. So, Viccum had another idea. He ran towards one of the stone pillars and hid behind it.

The Bombchu kept running until it hit the pillar and blew up.

"Phew! That was scary! I can't wait to get to town and out of this stupid field!"

Viccum decided to take a short rest before continuing onto town. He grabbed a Dodongo's Cavern rock out of his knapsack and began munching on it, taking great pleasure in chewing it. He anticipated arriving in town later that afternoon, assuming he has no more problems with Real Bombchus.

Link and Maggiar continued walking through the fresh powder, having to bypass trees and boulders standing in the way.

"I think we're getting closer!" said Maggiar, "I can smell the smoke coming from the chimneys!"

"Oh, this is great! Now I can sit by a fire for a little while before I go on," thought Link.

Tatl fell asleep inside Link's cap, since Link's head provided enough warmth for her. She was comfortable.

"We're gettin' closer!"

_Link…_

"Aah!" Link was startled, "what?"

_Link…_

Another voice? This time, it wasn't Gabourri.

_Save us, Link._

Wasn't one of the giants, either. Something was wrong.

_Save the Goron people from this plague. Release the one trapped inside Snowhead._

This was fishy. That wasn't Gabourri speaking to him. It was another voice that sounded so foreign, yet so familiar.

The voice stopped speaking. Link decided not to mention it to Maggiar or Tatl.

"Chilly, huh?" said Link.

"Just a bit."

Link and Maggiar continued walking up the slope, but while they walked, Link continued to ponder on why the Skull Kid chose to freeze the place.

"Hey, Tatl."

"Yeah?"

"Did the Skull Kid ever tell you why he chose to freeze this place? If he could freeze this place, why didn't he just freeze all of Termina? Is there a reason behind it."

Tatl hesitated.

"Well?"

"…uh… I'm not sure, Link."

"He just wanted to make the Gorons miserable?"

"I…guess."

Tatl was acting strangely. Was she trying to hide something from Link? If she was, she wasn't doing a great job.

"Here we are!" said Maggiar as he pointed north towards the Village.

The Village was quiet and pleasant. To Link, it seemed like a "snowy Kakariko", only a bit smaller. He couldn't wait to get inside to shelter for a little while. On the other hand, he wasn't exactly sure who would let him in.

"So, Maggiar, where do you live?"

"In Goron Village. It's quite a ways down. You wouldn't want to walk there right now."

Link believed him.

"Okay, so is there a nice shop anywhere nearby?"

"Yeah. The village shop is at the northwest corner near the frozen river. It's nice in there."

Link began to walk through the town. He could see the lights on in the houses and the smoke coming out from the chimneys. It looked so warm and cozy. He passed over the frozen stream and into the central part of town. There was a large central house with a tall smokestack. Without even thinking or asking, Link walked in. For some odd reason, Maggiar wanted to wait outside…

It looked like some sort of shop, but not one Link was familiar with. He noticed a large block of ice on his left with some sort of… thing inside.

"Who's there? A customer?" said a voice.

"…yes!"

"Whatcha need? Sorry, I can't forge any more swords till spring! My machine's totally frozen over! I've tried to melt it, but the ice isn't even dripping water. You'll have to be patient, sonny!"

"Wait a minute; I only wanted to buy something warm."

"Something warm? Something warm?!?! Ha! Well, sonny boy, looks like you came to the wrong place!"

"OOUUURRRGGGHHHHHH!!!" yelled a voice coming from behind the fireplace.

"What was that?"

"Don't mind him. He's just my assistant. Shut up back there!"

"OOOUURRAAAAAHHH!!"

"Is he okay?"

"Don't worry bout him. Anythin' I can help you guys with?"

"Yes. I need to know where I can find something warm to wear."

"Well, looks like yer outta luck, kid. All the shops closed down once the snow fell. No customers were comin',"

"Why?"

"Great question! It does snow up here in the normal wintertime, but not this much. Those people probably went down to Clock Town just so they could be warm. The shop owners went too."

"Is that so?"

"Yup."

"Well, where can I go from here?"

"Hmm. That's up to you, kid. I hardly ever even leave the village. You'll have to manage yourself. Sorry."

"Okay…"

Link exited the house disappointingly, but he still knew that he would find some way to get the job done.

"Hey, Link," said Tatl.

"Yeah?"

"Look…"

Link looked in the direction Tatl pointed. To his disbelief, it was a statue of Kaepora Gaebora. The owl wasn't lying, after all!

"That… statue…"

"Whatcha talkin' about?" asked Maggiar.

"Oh, you wouldn't understand…" replied Link.

"Whatever. I'm gonna head over to Goron Village. You wanna come?"

"No thanks. I need to take a rest."

"Where you gonna rest?"

"Uh… is there any kind of inn around here?"

"Nope."

"Any public shelters?"

"No."

"Well, what, then?"

"Only public places I know of are shops. You can look around, but I think most of them are closed."

"That's a shame."

"Yeah. So, you wanna meet somewhere later on?"

"I don't see why not. Where can we meet?"

"Meet me right in front of the blacksmith's house at dusk. From there, we can find a place for you to crash for the night."

"Okay. Thanks, Maggiar!"

"I'll see ya later. I've got some things to take care of."

With that, Maggiar rolled off into the distance.

"Well, I guess we should look around for empty shops. We'll surely be able to keep warm there for a while," said Tatl.

"I hope you're right," said Link.

Meanwhile, due east of Clock Town was Viccum, who was finally about to reach his destination.

"Yes! I've finally made it! Now I can take a rest before I start doin' business!"

Viccum reached the great eastern gate of Clock Town. There was a large sign above it reading "EAST CLOCK TOWN." He'd finally made it. He walked into the town exasperatedly past the eastern guard.

"Hey, it's a Goron! Welcome to Clock Town!"

Viccum was too tired to respond. Instead, he headed straight for the Stock Pot Inn so he could get a nice rest as a reward for traveling across Termina. He walked into the door and approached the front desk, where Anju, the inn owner, was standing.

"Hello, miss."

"Hello! Welcome to the Stock Pot Inn!" said Anju, "do you have a reservation?"

"Yes, I do. The name's L-"

"Oh, I know who you are! You're the Goron who made the reservation last week! I remember! Here, just fill out this paperwork and I'll give you the key!" she interrupted

Anju handed him a piece of Woodfall paper with a bunch of writing on it.

"I have to fill all of this out?"

"Yes. It will only take a few minutes."

Viccum began to write.

"So, are you coming from the mountains?"

"Yes, miss."

"I hear it's gotten very cold up there."

"Indeed it has. I was glad to get out of there."

"I bet you were."

"Yup."

There was another brief moment of silence as Viccum continued to write.

"…you wouldn't have happened to see a young boy up there recently, would you?"

"A young boy?"

"Yes. Long, purple hair. Ikanian clothes. Ring a bell?"

"No. I'm sorry, miss. "

Anju sighed. "Me too."

Viccum eventually finished writing.

"I'm finished, miss."

"Okay, that will be twenty five rupees."

Viccum handed her a red rupee and a blue rupee before heading up to his room. He was thrilled that he got to take a load off.

Anju sighed and looked down somberly.

At that moment, Link found a shop that had closed two days earlier. There was a sign outside the door reading "Mountain Bomb Shop: Relocated to Clock Town until further notice. –the Management."

"Should I go in?" asked Link.

"Of course. You know they won't be back anytime soon."

Link walked into the shop. It was cold, since no one had been in there for a few days.

"How do we warm it up in here?"

Without responding, Tatl flew over to the nearby fireplace, where three pieces of dry oak wood lay. Suddenly, Tatl did something Link hadn't seen before, causing a fire to ignite.

"Whoa! Tatl! What did you do?"

"It's an old trick my brother taught me. It's a special fairy power. I can't really explain how it works. Don't worry about it now. Take a load off."

Link did not care. All that mattered was he was in shelter now, and it would be warm soon. The exhausted Link lied down on the floor beside the fire, closing his eyes. The warm fire gave the most enchanting and exhilarating feeling. It never felt so good to sleep on a floor. Back in Clock Town, Viccum had nested into his room and got into the bed, and both Link and Viccum drifted off to sleep simultaneously, having completely switched positions over the course of one day.

Apparently, some Gorons _do _live in the Mountain Village.


End file.
